Living Behind a Mask
by Synica
Summary: What if the mask Naruto wore to hide the pain of his childhood hid much more than that? NarutoxFemale Kyubi. WARNING! Angst is an understatment. Don't like OOC, then don't read. Minor Sakura bashing. Story Complete.
1. Welcome to my Life

**A/N:** Yo! Welcome to my second story, Living a Lie. This one will feature a different perspective on Naruto's life, and by that I don't mean just the Kyubi being female. I'm requesting a well known artist to let me upload a pic of what the female Kyubi will pretty much look like in her 'humanoid' form. Anyways, I'll state a few things before I get started.

**Do's:**

Leave CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. If I see criticism that is not constructive, I'm not going to be happy.

**Don't's:**

Flame. I had people flame me on my last story and it pissed me off.

Pick me up on my spelling. Last time, I said you could, if you weren't snide about it, but only one of the 3 people who did were nice, the other two said I had 'terribel' spelling... Jackasses.

Troll. I hate trolls.

Leave Death Threats. Anyone does this, you'll get an unpleasant suprise. For example, last time someone gave me a death threat they found themselves missing a 'Friend smacks hands away from keyboard' "Not a good idea, Spec." 'Grumble' anyways...

Leave anything negative. Self Explanitory.

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

"**_...Biju thoughts..."_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 1:

Welcome to my Life:

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Yo, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. For the last 12 years of my life, I have been living a lie. What do you mean by that, you ask? Simple. People hate me. They think I don't know why they hate me. Oh how wrong they are. You see, from an early age, people took pleasure in beating me and ridiculing me. Often, the word 'demon' would come up in the beatings. Many years ago, I decided crying and just accepting the fact that people hate me and crying over it wasn't a good life to lead. I decided to find out what could possibly make them hate me so much. I quickly learnt the Henge skill at age 9 after a few failed attempts to get into the Konoha Library as myself. After learning the Henge skill, I walked in and straight past the receptionist who smiled at me. I had chosen the appearance of one very well known Uchiha Sasuke. Since I had decided to use him as my appearance, I thought I should probably try to lean about his behaviour patterns in case someone questioned me on something. Once inside, I had no idea where to start searching. The only clue I had was demon and also kitsune, which was muttered less often than demon. I went straight to the history section and looked for mythological creatures. There was a small passage on Kitsunes, which I read, but it gave me only one small clue. Kitsunes could have a number of tails, depending on how powerful they were. The maximum was nine. I decided to search the history section of Konoha, and I flipped through the index, until I found exactly what I wanted. Going to the page, I saw that 9 years ago on my birthday, the lord of demons, the Kyubi no Kitsune had attacked Konoha, and many ninjas had been sacrificed to beat it, however, among the list of those who died was the Yondaime Hokage. Apparently, he had not only killed himself, but the Kyubi too. This made me think.

_'If he killed it, then why do they call me demon? Unless...'_

Naruto thought about something. He had overheard two Jounin talking about Shinjutsus, or suicide techniques. Naruto eagerly went and looked up a book with jutsu types and a list of the known ones. He heard the librarian walk up to him and smile.

"Forgive me Sasuke-San, but we are closing for the afternoon. If you want, you can borrow that book and a few others for the night."

I looked up, and gave away no emotions. I turned to her and looked her in the eye.

"Do you have any books on Shinjutsu and a list of them, especially ones known to belong only to Konoha ninjas?"

The librarian frowned as she concerntraited.

"Well, we do have a book on all known shinjutsus of this village, but we require special permission from Hokage-Sama himself for anyone to view the book, and we are not allowed to let it leave it's place."

Naruto scowled, immitiating Sasuke perfectly. This seemed to have the desired effect on the young librarian, as she smiled at him.

"I'm sure Hokage-Sama will give you permission, I will send a request to him tomorrow morning. If you come at about lunch time, you should be allowed to see it."

Naruto nodded his thanks and put the book back, before walking out the door. Once he had gotten into an empty alley, I released the Henge, and scowled.

_'God, Sasuke's such a cold hearted bastard. Can't really blame him though since he saw his whole clan killed in front of him...'_

Naruto walked home, eagerly waiting to get to that book. After a quick bowl of cup ramen, Naruto brushed his teeth and went to bed.

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**Next Morning, 11 am:**

Naruto had been up for several hours now, however, the problem was finding Sasuke to use him for a henge. At around about 11 am, he saw Sasuke running down the street. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

_'Sasuke doesn't usually run, it makes him look 'uncool'.'_

Soon, Naruto heard a distant thundering, and looked in the direction it was coming from. What he saw amazed him. There was a huge group of fan girls chasing him down the street. Naruto got an idea. He smirked and ran after Sasuke. Once he had caught up. Sasuke scowled at him.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at him, matching him pace for pace.

"Looks like you're having trouble with your fan girls."

Sasuke's scowl deepened, and he considered punching Naruto in the face.

"Need some help getting rid of them?"

Sasuke almost stopped, before he remembered what he was running from.

"How exactly are you going to help?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and formed a ram seal as they rounded a corner, out of sight from everyone.

"Like this. Henge!"

Naruto was surrounded by a puff of smoke, before the smoke rolled off him to reveal a perfect copy of Sasuke. Naruto used one of Sasuke's smirks.

"Get out of here, I'll get rid of them."

Sasuke nodded dumbly, and ran off to the only place he was safe from them. The Uchiha Manor. Naruto quickly pulled out some supplies he had gathered for a practical joke. Namely, a can of paint and an explosive note. Naruto quickly pried the can open and shoved the exploding note inside, resealing it just as the girls rounded the corner. They saw the man of their dreams and rushed forward. Naruto held up his hand in a motion that told them to stop, which they did before Naruto spoke.

"Have you taken in your surroundings?"

They had no clue what he was talking about and charged forward again, however, Naruto had expected this, and formed a seal which started the explosive note's timer. Naruto jumped between the walls and landed on the roof, just as the note exploded, sending paint everywhere. He could tell the girls had stopped, so he looked over at them. It was priceless. The entire alley way was pure white, except for very human shaped splotches where the girls had blocked the paint with their bodies. They clearly had no clue as to what had just happened, so Naruto decided to enlighten them.

"A ninja must always be aware of their surroundings. Seems you learnt the hard way."

With that, Naruto laughed darkly as he headed for the library, leaving the stunned girls behind.

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**A Short Time Later, at The Library:**

Naruto ran to the library, hoping he wasn't too late. When he burst through the front door, he saw the Hokage and the librarian waiting for him. Naruto walked up to him.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Hokage-Sama."

The hokage waved it off and motioned him to follow, which he did. Once the Hokage reached a door that was made of pure metal, he put his hands to it and muttered 'kai', and the door flashed a brialliant white before it opened. Once inside, the Hokage resealed the door and turned to Naruto.

"You can drop the Henge, Naruto."

Naruto slumped his shoulders and muttered Kai, releasing the henge. The hokage gave naruto a solemn look.

"What could you possibly want to know about Shinjutsu?"

Naruto sighed, deciding that telling a lie right now will only cause more trouble.

"I want to know about a particular seal that is also a Shinjutsu."

The hokage's eyes widened in suprise, knowing exactly which one the boy was talking about.

"Shikifuujin..."

Naruto nodded, guiessing that was what he was looking for. The hokage took a puff of his pipe before expelling the smoke out the side of his mouth.

"I suppose we might as well start from the beginning."

The Hokage took a seat and motioned for Naruto to take the seat next to him, which he did. He began telling Naruto how the Yondaime was a master of seals, and he even created his own major seal called the Shikifujin to deal with the Kyubi. He had used it to seal it inside Naruto the day he was born, purposely leaving out the fact that Naruto was his son. Naruto took this hard, but it all made sense now. Every single bit of it. At the end of the explination Naruto turned to the Hokage.

"Old Man, they're only making it harder for me to supress the Kyubi..."

The 'Old Man' sighed before taking another drag.

"I know, Naruto, I know. Please, don't give in to them."

Naruto sighed and stood up before transforming back into Sasuke, who he knew so well by now that he could do the henge without Sasuke standing in front of him. He turned back to the Hokage as he walked out the door once the Hokage had unsealed it.

"Thanks for that, Hokage-Sama."

"No problem, Sasuke."

With that, Naruto went back outside and ran home. The villagers looks of pure hatred and contempt hurt so much more now that he knew why. Once he got home, he huddled up against the wall of his bedroom and did something he hadn't done in a while. He cried. He cried himself to sleep, which came long after he got home. When Naruto woke up, he heard an unfamilliar _Drip. Drip. Drip._ He grumbled to himself about getting a plumber to fix it as he opened his eyes to see that this was not his home. It was some maze of delapadated sewers.

"How the hell did I get here?"

Naruto heared a bone chilling laugh, followed by a voice that could have frozen a man's heart cold.

"**Why don't you come here and find out?"**

Naruto slowly trudged towards the direction of the noise. After a while he felt he could not go any further, he turned a corner and saw a bright light down the corridor. With the last of the strength he had left, he walked into the light, only to reveal a giant cage with a single slip of paper saying 'seal' holding it closed. At that point, a giant pair of eyes and a mouth full of serrated teeth appeared, grinning at him.

"**So, you finally showed up, eh?"**

Naruto's mind knew instantly what this was and he fell on his butt, sending a small amount of water that covered the floor everywhere.

"K...Kyubi?"

The demon smiled even wider.

"**At least my container isn't totally stupid. I could have gotten worse, I guess..."**

Naruto recovered slightly from the initial shock and got back up. He stared at the Kyubi, without wavering and uttered a single word.

"Why?"

The Kyubi, for once, didn't have a response. The Kyubi knew exactly what Naruto was asking, but didn't feel like going into detail right now.

"**I'll tell you some other time. Right now, I need to tell you something, so listen up, and listen good kit, cause I'm only saying this once."**

Naruto listened to the Kuybi, waiting fro what he had to say.

"**You have a hell of a life ahead of you. You will be hunted for me by some of the strongest humans in the world. Because I die if you do, I'm going to be your life support in a way. If you need it, just call me and I'll pump some chakra into you."**

Naruto nodded in understanding. The Kyubi smiled at him.

**:It's about time you went back, kit."**

Naruto awoke to find that it was almost morning, so he crawled into bed, still puzzled by the Kyubi's last words. He went to sleep in a complete daze.

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**Next Morning:**

Naruto had slept fitfully, images of the legendary demon fox flicking through his mind's eye as he slept. He woke with a start as he saw the fox coming towards him, grabbing him in his jaws and crushing down on him, completely mutilating his body, blood spraying everywhere. Naruto was hyperventilating and was bathed in a cold sweat. He shakily got out of the Futon and stumbled into the shower, washing himself, before getting out and taking care of his other hygine matters. He wondered into the kitchen. He was on autopilot as he boiled the water for some cup ramen. The only thing that his mind was focusing on was the disturbing conversation from last night. After Naruto had eaten, he went back to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Checking the alarm clock beside his bed, noticing he had about half an hour to get to the academy. Picking up his bag and keys, he stepped out the door and slipped his 'mask' on, although this morning it was far more difficult than usual. By the time he got to the academy, he had managed to completely put his 'mask of the dobe' on, as he called it. He walked through the acandemy halls, into his home room. When he opened the door, he noticed as per normal, everyone turned to see who it was and then turned back the second they saw the shock of yellow and orange, not giving a damn about the 'dobe', which was perfectly fine by Naruto. As he slipped into his usual place, he saw that Sasuke had taken the seat next to him already, looking at Naruto and slipping him a note, which Naruto expertly hid from the view of everyone. He read it, noticing it as a very Sasuke way of saying thanks for yesterday, which turned out to come in the words of 'not half bad, dobe'. Naruto nodded to him, indicating he understood and not to mention it. At this point, Naruto heard a group of high pitched screams from his left, and turned to see the much dreaded 'Sasuke fan club' standing over him. Naruto did his normal rutine as he winced at their scream and cat calls of things like 'how dare you sit next to Sasuke-Kun?' and the like. However, everyone was surprised when Sasuke turned to them and scowled.

"Let him sit where he wants. Do you have a problem with that?"

The girls backed up at the tone that the object of their desires had shot them down with for doing something for their precious Sasuke-Kun they believed was a favor. Eventually, all of the girls returned to their seats, and Naruto turned to Sasuke with a raised eyebrow, causing Sasuke to turn and look out the window, looking bored.

"Now we're even."

Naruto smiled and sat back. Just then, Iruka came into the class, announcing a history lesson on the Kyubi. Naruto stiffened considerably, which a few people noticed, including Iruka. Iruka smiled sadly as he gave a look that said 'please bare with me', however Naruto barely suppressed his anger. By now, everyone could feel the absolute hatred rolling off Naruto and were staring at him in disbelief. Iruka sighed and walked to the front of the room and began the lesson. After a while Naruto, shot up and stormed out of the room. Iruka tried to stop him however, Naruto turned back to him and growled at him.

"Don't you ever discuss this subject in front of me again."

With that he slammed the door, leaving Iruka to try and supress the students from causing an uproar. He decided a half truth would sufice.

"Naruto has just found out yesterday that the Kyubi killed both of his parents on the day of his birth. He's still taking it rather hard."

Everyone saw Naruto in a new light. No wonder he was lonely. Sasuke seemed to have a rather hunted look on his face. He started conversing with no one in particular, although everyone heard him.

"He's... He's lost everything... Just like me..."

Coming from Sasuke's mouth, it meant so much more. Everyone tried to maintain some semblance of a regular class. After class was let out, Sasuke was the first out, running off to try and find out where Naruto was. His fan girls were hot on his heels, however, Sasuke turned and glared at them with nothing but absolute hatred in his eyes.

"Don't you damn girls have any tact? After what you heard today, do you really think Naruto would appreaciate you hanging around him and me? Go home, and don't any of you dare follow me."

With that, Sasuke went to start his search for the blonde haired boy.

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**Several Hours Later, Out the Front of the Academy:**

Sasuke returned to the last place on the list he knew Naruto hung out, which was the swing in front of the academy. Luckily, the boy was there. Sasuke slowly approached him, causing Naruto to look at him with eyes full of pain, suffering and lonliness. Naruto formed a weak smile for Sasuke.

"You felt it too, right? The pain... Of losing them..."

Sasuke nodded and sat against the tree. Naruto did one of his fake smiles to cover up his sadness, however Sasuke stared at him.

"Drop the front. I've been watching you, and I know you're not who others think you are."

Naruto's eyes widened and he smiled sadly at Sasuke.

"Thank you."

Sasuke gave a 'hmm' and looked at Naruto. What he saw was a reflection of him in the first few months after the clan slaughter.

"Thank you. You're the first person to notice that I'm not the idiot I try and convince others I am..."

Sasuke smiled knowingly at him.

"When you go through the pain we have, it's impossible not to see others that have gone through it, not matter what kind of mask they put on. Keep the mask up in public, however, when we're alone, I think we might as well drop the charade."

Naruto nodded and they sat in silence, occasionally chucking comments at each other every now and then. After several hours, Sasuke got up, and gave a smile to Naruto. Not the usual cocky smirk, but the kind of smile one would give to their friends. Naruto smiled back at him as Sasuke turned to leave, holding a hand up in the air.

"Catch you tomorrow at the Academy, Naruto."

Naruto waved back and decided that not all of life was bad. He slowly walked back to his appartment, before quickly changing into his sleepwear and going to sleep almost the second his head hit the pillow.

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**3 Years Later:**

Naruto and Sasuke had both benifited from the mutual understanding of the pains of their past. Naruto had even worked up the courage to tell Sasuke about the Kyubi not long ago. Naruto was surprised to no end when Sasuke just seemed to take it into his stride as if it wasn't anything too far out of the ordinary. Today was the day of the academy graduation test. Sasuke had made a dare with Naruto that he drop the mask and show them what he was really capeable of. When Naruto asked what the reward was if he did, Sasuke grinned evilly.

"I'll buy you as much ramen as you want in one meal."

Sasuke had found out long ago that Naruto's Achillie's Heel was Ramen. Naruto took the bait perfectly and agreed to do it. When they came into the class room and took their seats, Iruka called the roll, checking everyone was here. When he had, he motioned everyone to follow him outside to the shuriken throwing area. Once they were assembled, Iruka motioned Sasuke forward, who with his usual cocky smirk, flicked his wrist, releasing the shuriken. All of them landed inside the targets on the log, all of them getting prefect bullseyes. Iruka motioned Naruto forward who sighed, wondering if this was worth it. He flicked his wrist with the same ease as Sasuke had. To everyone's shock, the shuriken didn't miss by a mile like they normally would hace. They all landed perfectly in the bullseyes. Iruka was stunned, as were the rest of the class. Some of them started muttering thinkgs like 'fluke' and 'lucky'. Naruto was content to let the idiots think that, however he saw in Iruka's eyes that he understood that what Naruto had done was done with pure skill gained from years of endless practice, and had nothing to do with luck. After everyone else had completed the first test, Iruka walked back inside. He had them line up in front of him, and he announced the next test.

"The next test is a Henge test. You must henge into me. First, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke grumbled and stepped up, muttering 'Henge' and transformed into a perfect Iruka. Iruka nodded, before he looked to the next in line.

"Next, Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone knew Naruto sucked at Henge, and there was no way to fluke this. As Naruto stepped up, he could feel almost everyone glaring at him, almost willing him to fail. Naruto half lazily muttered 'Henge' and he was surrounded by a veil of smoke. When it cleared there was Iruka, and a perfect copy of him at that. The others looked astonished that Naruto hadn't attempted something stupid, like some of the perverted ninjutsu's he was rumoured to be creating. Naruto was surrounded by another cloud of smoke, and when it cleared there was the normal Naruto. He walked back to his usual seat, where Sasuke was sitting, purposely ignoring the stares. After the test came the test that everyone knew Naruto absolutely hated, the Bunshin test. Iruka told them to go into the next room one at a time as their names were called. Sasuke was called first who came out a few moments later and showed his hitai-ate to Naruto with a quick flash then dissapeared. Naruto knew if he tried to do a Bunshin, he'd fail miserably, however, he'd prepared something else. Iruka popped his head in and called Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto, You're up."

Naruto went with a grin on his face that rivaled a foxes. People could hear his cry from next door as he announced his technique, however, it was not what they expected.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

They heared the sound of wood creaking and groaning under extreme stress before they heard the door shatter and they ran outside to see that Naruto's clones were piled out the door on top of each other. Shikamaru was the first to pick up that something was amiss.

"They're... Solid..."

Everyone noticed this as the clones 'poof'ed out of existance and they heard Iruka stutter, trying to find something to say.

"Na... Naruto?"

Naruto turned to Iruka.

"What? Didn't I create enough? I can create more, if you want."

Iruka madly failed his arms, indicating it was ok.

"Naruto... That's a Jounin level jutsu..."

Naruto nodded.

"And? I can't do regular Bunshin, so I just had to try for the next level up."

Iruka waved him towards the table of the hitai-ate, where Naruto picked one with black cloth, and fastened it around his head. Naruto charged outside to see Sasuke waiting for him with a look of pure amuzement on his face.

"You really didn't have to go that far to win the dare, you know..."

Naruto snickered and led walked up to Sasuke, who fell into step beside him, as they both walked towards Ichiraku's for the prize Sasuke had promised Naruto.

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**A/N:** Yeah, I know the first chapter was short by my standards, but it's more an introductory chapter. Also, for those of you who might have figured it out by now, Naruto's personality is vastly different than what it is in the official story line. In fact, don't be surprised if Naruto ends up with a Cursed Seal on his neck. Personally, I've always wanted to see Naruto with one, and this is the most logical senario I could come up with. So if you don't want to see Naruto turning to the dark side of the force so to speak, this is your first and final warning. Stop reading now. For those of you who want to see what it would be like, then read on, and I'll try and make it as beliveable as possible. Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	2. Team 7 and The Mission to the Wave

**A/N:** Yo! Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the road known as life today-

Readers: ...

Aaaaaanyways, I'll get started on your reviews/comments:

**Jdawg26:** Thank you for the compliment.

**Zak-Son:** Thanks.

**Kiia:** Hehe, glad you like it. As for your request, I'll tell you now that one of them will be exactly the story line I had decided to take already. Which one? Not telling, as that'd spoil the story, but one of them will definitely come true.

**Inumaru-Kun:** Well depends on what you define as his 'bitch'. If you mean next container or sexual play toy, then wipe those ideas from your mind now, as I'd rather discontinue this fic then choose those options. Otherwise, I can't make any promises.

**Sesshylovr07:** You really think this chapter is long? Try checking out some of the chapter lengths in my 'a tail of two bijus' story. Some of them got to over 20k words. Now THAT'S a chapter in my eyes. Hope you keep reading!

**Chaosmagez:** Thanks.

**Conceptor:** At the moment, I'm doing research into exactly what could possibly happen if Naruto were to get the cursed seal in the real story line. I'm sure Kyubi would fight it, but ultimately, it's Naruto's body and mind, so he decideds what'll happen to it unless Naruto calls on Kyubi's chakra. When he get's the seal, he'll be in far too much pain to bother with Kyubi.

**Foxes-n-blood-n-tears-never-shed:** Yeah, I always liked darker 'what if's that are well thought out too. Catch you round!

**Eragoniz1:** 'Cough'. Um, no a female fox is NOT called a bitch. A female dog is called a bitch, however, a female fox is called a vixen. Also, I had a look at the pics, and they look NOTHING like she'll look like in my fic. If you need a vaugue mental idea, think a Taruen from World of Warcraft. They're a humanoid cow right? Now imagine a humanoid fox with 9 tails. THAT is my idea of what Kyubi will look like.

**Causeiambetta:** Heh, sorry for the time skip. I was pretty much doing a crash course prologue that got everyone up to about where the first episode or two got up to in the anime.

**Oblivion's Muse:** Well, after a lot of research, I think the Cursed Seal stage two changes your physical appearance to what you think of your dark side as unconciously. I've noticed that each person gets one major physical mutation each. Kimmimaro grew a tail, Sasuke grew wings, etc. I'm thinking of having Naruto grow 9 real tails. As for black, I'll consider it. Also, the cursed seal relies on converting regular chakra into the well known purple chakra. I've never seen the effects of a cursed seal on a demon container, however, I HIGHLY doubt it was created with that thought in mind, so I'll keep the Kyubi's chakra separate from the cursed seal for now.

**Kin-Ryu Chikara:** Heh, read below.

**Korrd:** Time will tell.

**Zarron:** I wish I could tell you, but I'm going to have to ask you to wait and see. I don't like giving away my plot before I write it.

**Windsbane:** Thank you.

**General Badaxe:** To tell you the truth, I had always thought of the 'what if' Naruto actually turned out like a mix between Gaara and Sasuke, but hid it behind his mask which he has in the official story line. To tell you the truth, when I read your fic, the last piece of the puzzle set in and I knew a good writer could pull it off. So in a sense, I came up with the majority of the idea by myself, and got the name from your fic. Hope this answers your question.

**Zaivon:** Thanks for the review. As for that, I'm actually thinking of removing it, as it kinda screws with the flow of the story. Oh and trust me, Sasuke is very simmilar here to what he is in the anime/manga. He just hasn't had the cursed seal put on him.

**The PhantomHokage:** That was the point, I think... I did say the story would be Naruto x Female Kyubi, right? I'll check out your stories in a bit.

**Solar Guardian:** Well, at this point, I haven't decided for this story. However, for the other story, it will be until Naruto gets his dream, and if people demand it, a short story on the Rookie 10's children.

**xXxANIMEfreekXxX1234:** Well, I decided that this story will be done purely by myself. I really don't want people to change the story line I have planned. As for the Shikifuujin fighting the Cursed Seal, it's possible, but the Kyubi decides whether or not to fight it. For all we know, Kyubi might actually weclome it. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Everyone else who reviewed: Thanks!

**Important!** Check my F F profile! I have uploaded a pic of what the FemKyubi will look like in her human form, with a couple of changes.

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

"**_...Biju thoughts..."_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 2:

Formation of Team Seven and Heading to the Wave:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning at the Academy:**

Naruto turned up early that morning and took his regular seat next to Sasuke, who gave him a nod, which was his indication of good morning while they were in public. Naruto returned it, and then turned to the front of the class as Iruka walked in. Iruke started a long winded speech about how life would be hard from now on and they had many trials ahead of them. He looked over his graduating class and then down at his clipboard.

"I will now announce the teams. Starting with Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto."

Said student shot to attention at this. Iruka continued.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto didn't contain his joy as he pumped the air and gave a 'yatta' off, causing everyone to look at him. Sasuke was happy with that as well. Iruka went and announced the last team member.

"And Haruno Sakura."

Sakura jumped up with her own 'yatta' while Naruto and Sasuke banged their heads on the desk in unison and groaned. Shikamaru looked at Iruka in question.

"Iruka-Sensei, what's with putting the three strongest people on one team? Aren't they supposed to be ballanced?"

Iruka nodded.

"And they are, Shikamaru. Although Naruto got the highest scores in the final exams, the placments take into consideration your entire year's mark, not just the tests. Even if Naruto came first in the final tests, he was still bottom of the class."

Shikamaru nodded and went back to staring out the window, content with the answer. After Iruka had announced the other teams, he told them which rooms to wait in for their new Jounin Senseis. When Naruto heard the name of cell 7's Jounin, he groaned and slammed his head on the desk multiple times, causing Iruka to look at him.

"Is something wrong Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Iruka with a look of hurt in his eyes.

"Did you really have to give us that guy? He's two hours late to everything that's not life threatening."

Iruka sighed, shaking his head.

"He personally asked to teach your cell, which Hokage-Sama agreed to."

Naruto just trudged out of the room. Sasuke followed him with the ever loyal lap dog that was Sakura close behind.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Hours Later in Team 7's Room:**

Naruto counted down the minutes and seconds before he turned to the door and pointed at it just as it was opening.

"You're late, Kakashi-Sensei. Why the hell are you always so tardy?"

Kakashi walked in to reveal a man in navy blue pants and shirt with a jounin flak jacket over his shirt. He wore fingerless gloves that had metal plates on the back of the hands. He wore a mask that covered the majority of his face and all of his neck, and his hitai-ate covered his left eye and he had a shock of silver hair standing up. He smiled in that oh so familiar irritating fashion, making Sasuke doubt his capacity while Sakura took her crush's example and doubted him. Kakashi looked at them before giving a 'hmmm'.

"My first impression of you guys is..."

Naruto knew exactly what was coming, and answered for them.

"Annoying right? You should really watch what you say, you sound like a hypocrite."

Kakashi looked at Naruto and smiled lazily.

"Meet me on the roof."

With that, Kakashi 'poof'ed out of existance and Team 7 followed him to the roof. Once they were there, he motioned to the steps and they took their seats. Kakahi leaned up against the railing, and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, I need to get to know you guys first, so tell me your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams."

Sakura didn't understand so she looked at her new Sensei questioningly.

"Ne, Sensei, why don't you go first?"

Kakashi nodded and started.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes are none of your business-"

Naruto smiled and decided to toy with his new Sensei.

"He means he likes to read little orange books."

Kakashi continued.

"Neither are my dislikes-"

"He means he doesn't like people who harm his precious books."

"My hobbies..."

"Likes reading and collecting the books."

"As for my dream, you would never understand."

"He means he wants to star in the movie for his books and meet the author himself."

Kakashi stared at the boy in interest. He apparently knew everything about him. He pointed to Naruto.

"Since you think you know so much about me, why don't you go?"

"Fine. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. As for my likes and dislikes, those who deserve to know them already do. My hobbies are training. Dreams... I have one, but if I told you, you'd piss your pants."

Sakura suddenly saw that Naruto wasn't the bright bubbly boy she thought she knew. Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

"Right, you next Uchiha."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My likes and dislikes are none of your buisiness. My hobbies are training and getting stronger. As for my dreams, I have two. First is to kill a certain man. The other is to revive my clan."

Naruto smiled knowingly while Sakura naturally thought it was 'cool'. Naruto laughed mentally.

_'How little that idiot actually knows...'_

Kakashi turned to the girl.

"Right, you next."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like..." Insert sideways glance at Sasuke here "I dislike Ino-Pig. My hobbies..." Another sideways look here "and my dreams..." Sideways look at Sasuke with complementary high pitched squeal. Naruto and Sasuke groaned. Kakashi sighed mentally.

_'Great. An avenger, a mentally corrupted demon container and a love sick puppy. I've got a hell of a lot of work to do...'_

Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out two bells. Naruto had a fair idea of what was about to transpire.

"Right. We're going to do a test to see if you can keep the rank of Genin."

Naturally Sakura had to open her big mouth.

"NANI? But we already past the Genin graduation exam!"

Naruto sighed.

"That only proved we could perform the abilities. This will prove we know when to use them in a real life situation."

Kakashi nodded. Naruto was obviously smarter than he let on.

"The test will have a 66 percent failure rate. Those who do not pass will be sent to redo their training at the academy."

Sasuke slapped a hand over Sakura's mouth to keep her from one of her screaming fits.

"Seriously, Sakura. Learn when to shut up."

Naruto stared at Kakashi.

"Let me guess, you're going to tell us not to eat breakfast right, because we'll throw up?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

_'This guy's damn sharp. According to his grades, he was the dobe of the class.'_

Kakashi did his laid back smile.

"Yup. Well, meet at the training grounds at 5am. Ja!"

With that, Kakashi poofed out of existance. Sasuke and Naruto got up, with Sakura dragging along behind Sasuke. Before Sakura could ask the question, Sasuke turned around.

"Don't. I'm tired of you fan girls asking me for dates. If you seriously think your worth me taking out on a date prove it. Prove to me that you are worth it. Until them, never ask me again."

Sakura felt her heart shatter at the harsh words that Sasuke used and fell to her knees. Naruto saw what she was about to do and sighed, asking Sasuke to wait for him he went up to Sakura.

"Sakura, do you know why Sasuke says harsh things like that?"

Sakura shook her head.

"It's because he's scared. Scared that if he gets attached to more people, he'll lose them again like he did his clan. That's why he only makes attachments to people who can defend themsevles against anything. By proving your worth it, he meant prove your as strong as he is. Personally, I'd say drop it. You have no idea what you're trying to get yourself into. Sasuke and I have led a dark past and well have our minds set on one goal only. After that, we have nothing to live for. Be careful what you wish for, Sakura."

Sakura was shocked by the words. Sasuke? Scared? That couldn't be right. Naruto sensed this and laughed heartlessly.

"You would be scared shitless if a 13 year old murdered your entire clan and then replayed it to you in your own mind."

Sakura gasped. The Uchiha clan had been murdered by a 13 year old? Naruto smiled at her, although the smile was devoid of emotions and nodded. With that, he went back to Sasuke as they walked back to Ichiraku's for lunch.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, 7:30 am:**

Naruto and Sasuke appeared at the training grounds half an hour after they knew Kakashi would be there. He stared at them.

"Why were you late?"

Naruto burst out laughing.

"You come two hours late every day and you call us late because we decided to show you what it feels like for once? Please."

Kakashi sighed and pulled out a timer before placing it on a stump and set it.

"This will go off at noon. You have until then to get a bell. If you do not get a bell, you will be tied to the stump and watch the others eat."

This had the desired effect on Sakura, who's stomach growled. However Sasuke and Naruto smiled. Kakashi sighed. He'd really have to talk to these two about following orders.

"GO!"

All three of them body flickered away and Kakashi pulled out his famous little orange book and began reading. Naruto who was with Sasuke groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. Sasuke looked somewhat dissapointed. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Whatever you do, do NOT turn your back to him."

Sasuke nodded, although Naruto could tell Sasuke didn't grasp what he meant.

"He's a pervert throught and through. Turn your back to him, and he'll perform a move called: Konohagure Insen Taijutsu Ogi: Sennin Goroshi. All it is is a super ass poke."

Sasuke sweat dropped. However, Naruto had a plan and he began discussing it with Sasuke who smiled evilly. Naruto took off his hitai-ate, catching the sunlight so it shone directly onto Sakura's face. Sakura decided they were indicating her to attack, so she charged at Kakashi. Not exactly what Naruto had in mind, but it'd do. Naruto nodded to Sasuke and created a Kage Bunshin, which he sent out to take Kakashi from head on. The Naruto clone decided to play dumb and make what appeared to be Genin level attacks, but in reality, he was holding back. He purposely let Kakashi get behind him and the real Naruto indicated to start their plan.

"You shouldn't let an enemy see your back multiple times, Baka."

True to Naruto's theory, Kakashi formed a Tora seal. The Naruto clone feigned being scared as Kakashi used the 'super ass poke', however, he did not realise until too late that Naruto and Sasuke were behind him, who had body flickered in while Sakura body flickered in front of him.

"You were saying? Also, don't use your moves carelessly, or they'll be used against you, BAKA."

Naruto quickly formed a Tora seal and proceeded to give Kakashi a taste of his own medicine.

"Konohagure Insen Taijutsu Ogi: Sennin Goroshi!"

Naruto launched Kakashi into the air while Sasuke and Sakura each jumped up and grabbed a bell while Kakashi was still trying to contemplate how Naruto knew one of his own motos. Kakashi looked up just in time to see the three Genin laughing at Kakashi. Kakashi stood up and smiled.

"Right, let's go tie Naruto up."

Naruto waggled a finger at Kakashi.

"I may not have gotten a bell, but I got something even better."

Kakashi looked in horror to see his orange book in Naruto's hands. Kakashi checked his pouch to see that it was indeed missing. Naruto flipped it open and pulled his hitai-ate over his left eye, doing a Kakashi impersonation. Kakashi smiled and held his hand out. Naruto looked at it and smiled.

"So, are you going to pass all of us?"

Kakashi sighed.

"Well, you did understand the true meaning of this test, which was team work. I've never passed a team before, because they were bakas who just followed my rules unquestioningly. So..."

Kakashi turned around and gave them a genuine smile.

"You pass."

Naruto gave Sasuke a high five while Sakura gave her usual 'yatta'. Kakashi continued smiling.

"It seems that Sasuke and Naruto get along perfectly, however, Sakura seems to be the odd man out, so to speak. But you were able to put your differences behind you and work together to beat me."

They were all smiles as Kakashi waved them to the three bento boxes on the ground.

"Eat up guys and girl. Starting tomorrow, we begin missions as Cell 7. Also remember one rule."

They looked up at Kakashi, waiting for his rule.

"Those who don't listen to orders are scum, however, those who don't take care of their friends are lower than that. Remember that well."

The nodded as they finished up their bento boxes and walked their separate ways.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**About a Week Later, in the Mission Office:**

Cell 7 had been doing a hell of a lot of stupid missions that weren't even fit for an academy student. Finally, after returning a very 'troublesome' cat, as Shikamaru would have called it. The Feudal Lord's wife left after paying, and the Hokage looked through the mission listing.

"Let's see... Your next mission will be... Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping at a nearby village, digging up sweet potatoes-"

"No."

The single word made the entire room look at Naruto, demanding an explination.

"How the hell could you classify these as 'missions'? I wouldn't even subject Academy students to this. I'm sure, being the Hokage, you've realised by now that every single mission we've been assigned is easily doable by non ninjas? Why bother squandering village resources like this?"

Everyone looked at Naruto, trying to find some flaw in his argument, however, it was perfect. Every single part of it was true. Iruka stood up to try and defend the Hokage, but the Hokage just motioned to sit back down.

"So, you think you can handle a real mission? Let's see..."

The Hokage shuffled through the papers before finding one in particular.

"What about a C class mission to the Wave."

Naruto laughed mentally. This wasn't a C class. The only person who would come to a ninja village from the Wave would be to ask protection from Gato, making it at least B class. Naruto saw that Sasuke had realised this as well. Naruto grinned and Kakashi nodded.

"We'll take it."

The Hokage nodded.

"Then I'll introduce you to your client. You can come in now."

The door opened to reveal a thick set man with greying hair and beard. He also wore glasses and was obviously drunk. He looked at them and gave a 'hmmm'.

"These are the people that you assigned to protect me? They look like super idiots, especially the one in orange."

Naruto smiled.

"I could kill you in one of seven different vital areas in under a second without you realising. I'd suggest you reconsider that remark."

The man stiffened up at this remark, instantly becoming sober. He sighed and nodded to the Hokage as he led them out of the mission office. When Naruto got out of earshot of the room, he called to the old man.

"I know the Wave country is poor, but it's not a good idea to decieve the mission handlers about the mission's difficulty."

The man stood ram rod straight and looked the boy in horror. He decided a guit trip was in order.

"Well, I don't mind if you guys dump the mission. It'll be sad when my daughter and grandson dies."

Naruto smiled.

"Hmmm, well, why don't we have a little discussion then? Tell us as much as you know about the enemy and we'll adjust accordingly. If you don't tell us all you know, we WILL dump the mission, which we have every right to do so."

The man nodded and began telling them about the Gato Corporation, who it was known to hire and it's numbers, which was admittantly vague, but Naruto had expected this. Gato was known to keep his numbers and employees well hidden. For a week, they trudged towards the Wave Country encountering no resistance _'Uh huh, Demon Brothers aren't in this one.'_. Finally, they got to a river where a boat was waiting. They walked towards the boat and got on. The man nodded. To their client.

"Tazuna, we've been expecting you. Are these the ninjas you brought?"

Tazuna nodded and the man in the boat started up the engine to get going. Soon, they entered a thick mist and the man cut the engines.

"Please be very quiet. Gato's men patrol this area, so from here on we have to row."

They nodded, keeping their senses steeled. They managed to reach the shore without incident and they set out towards the main village of the Wave. Naruto felt a wave of killer intent directed towards him and he charged forward, tackling Sakura and Tazuna to the ground. Sasuke and Kakashi were quick enough to react by tehmselves. Naruto looked at the gitant sword that had imbedded itself in a nearby tree. Naruto smirked.

"I'd recognise that sword anywhere."

A disembodied voice came from around them.

"Oh? Recognise me? 3 Guesses."

"I only need one. Former Member of the Hidden Mist's Seven Shinobi Swordsmen, Momochi Zabuza, also known as the demon of the mist. Wanted mainly for a failed assassination attempt on the Mizukage. Considered an upper A, bordering on lower S rank missing nin."

Zabuza laughed.

"You're good kid. It's unusual for a Genin to know so much about missing nins."

"I have to know my eneimes if I want to live. One of them happens to be a former aquaintance of yours."

"Hmmm? And who would that be?"

"Hosigake. Kisame."

Zabuza paused for a moment, before laughing.

"You got yourself some powerful enemies, kid. You must have severely pissed off Kisame to make him an enemy of yours. So, since you have Kisame as an enemy, I would have assumed you've trained yourself to be able to at least hold your own for a while?"

Naruto laughed, continuing with the pre battle banter.

"Yeah, I trained alright. You would be a good mesuring stick to see how far I've come."

Just then, Zabuza body flickered to stand on the handle of his sword and looked down at the group. Naruto smiled with nothing but confidence in his eyes. Everyone else was either shaking or in Kakashi's case, planning what to do. Zabuza stared at the kid who had spoken to him.

"You don't look like much kid."

Naruto smiled.

"Want to find out if that's true?"

Zabuza smirked and pulled the sword out of the tree. Kakashi saw that Naruto was about to charge him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, he's out of your league. Everyone, get in formation and protect Tazuna."

Naruto sighed and got in formation. Kakashi decided to lift his head band and end this quickly. What Sasuke saw shocked him.

"Is that the... Sharingan?"

Naruto nodded.

"It's not his, per se. He can't use it to the full potential because he's not an Uchiha. Apparently, he came back from a mission with his left eye slashed and he had a Sharingan instead of the normal eye. Also, his team mate who was an Uchiha didn't come back from the mission. That's all I could find out."

Sasuke nodded and watched as Zabuza pulled the sword out of the tree and body flickered to stand on top of the water nearby before announcing his technique.

"Ninpou, Kirigakure no Jutsu."

The mist slowly surrounded them and separated them from Kakashi. Naruto smiled. He knew what was coming next, and decided to spoil the mood.

"Let me guess, Zabuza. The 8 points speech right? Do you ever come up with anything original?"

Zabuza said nothing. At that point, they felt a burst of chakra and the mist around them cleared, revealing Kakashi surrounded by an aura of chakra. Naruto could sense the fear rolling of Sasuke in waves and turned to him.

"Sasuke, that is exactly how Zabuza wants you to react. Don't forget, I'm here. He won't get to you without a fight."

Sasuke nodded, regaining his resolve and steeled himself. At that point, Zabusa appeared in the middle of them.

"I wonder if you can... This is it."

With that, Zabuza swung his sword around, but to everyone's suprise, Naruto jumped in the way of the sword and stabbed his kunai into Zabuza's stomach before he could complete the swing. Naruto watched as a clear liquid came out of Zabuza's wound in a steady stream. Eventually, the entire clone turned to water and fell to the ground. Zabuza appeared behind Naruto.

"You're good for a Genin, I'll give you that. However, you won't live through this."

Zabuza cleaved Naruto in half only to find it poofed out of existance. Zabuza's eyes widened.

"Kage Bunshin?"

Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza with a Kunai to his neck.

"None of us are to be underestimated, Zabuza. This is the end for you."

Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, sword poised to strike.

"Is it, Kakashi?"

Kakashi stiffened in suprise before he destroyed the Mizu Bunshin in front of him and ducked in time to avoid the horizontal swipe, only to receive a swift kick to the chin, sending him flying into the river. Zabuza ran at Kakashi, jumping over the caltrops and into the water. Kakashi broke the surface and looked at the water in worry.

"What's with this water? It's heavy for some reason..."

Zabuza body flickered behind Kakashi and formed a short set of hand seals giving off a 'hmph'.

"Baka. Suirou no Jutsu!"

Kakashi was immediately trapped in a sphere of water.

"You're annoying, Kakashi. I'm going to deal with the runts first."

Kakashi looked at them in horror.

"Take Tazuna and run! Forget me!"

Naruto sighed.

"Do you still have so little faith in us, Sensei?"

"I told you to run! That's an order!"

"No."

Kakashi turned to Naruto, realising he had taken his lesson to heart. Zabuza formed a Muzi Bunshin and had it walk toward the Genin and Tazuna. The clone laughed.

"The three of you have hitai-ate on as if you think you're ninja. A ninja is someone who's gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourself a ninja when you appear in my bingo book."

"What would you know of life and death?"

Everyone turned to Sasuke and Naruto, who were shaking in barely supressed rage. Sasuke looked up at Zabuza with pure hatered in his eyes.

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE YOUR ENTIRE CLAN MURDERED BY YOUR 13 YEAR OLD BROTHER AND THEN HAVE TO WATCH YOUR RELATIVES DEATHS OVER AND OVER FOR 72 HOURS WITH THE SHARINGAN, HUH?"

"WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BEATEN SENSLESS AS A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD WHO COULDN'T PROTECT HIMSELF FROM AN ENTIRE VILLAGE OF NINJA JUST FOR BEING WHO YOU ARE AND THEN REFUSED SERVICE AT THE HOSPITAL WHEN SOMEONE BROUGHT YOU IN OUT OF PITY, SUFFERING FROM A COMA AND SEVERE INTERNAL DAMAGE EVERY TIME IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY? YOU DON'T KNOW JACK SHIT ABOUT PAIN!"

Zazuza saw them quivering in pure rage. They obviously weren't lying. He smiled at them.

"So both of you have obviously seen pain that only the worst of us are subjected to... You may be able to call yourselves ninja, but what about the girl, hmm?"

With that, Zabuza charged at the girl, knocking her forehead protector off her head and sending her flying back. The hitai-ate spun through the air before landing on the ground. Zabuza stomped on it, grinding it further into the ground.

"She's obviously led a sheltered life, growing up with parents and friends. She has no right to call herself a ninja. Not until she does something like I had to to pass the Genin exams of the Hidden Mist."

Naruto scowled.

"You mean where you were paired up upon entering the Academy, and you had to study from the same book, eat from the same bowl and sleep in the same bed, and for the graduation exam, you were forced to fight each other to the death?"

Zabuza smiled behind his bandaged mouth.

"Exactly. Until she is forced to kill someone, she will never be able to understand what being a ninja means."

Sakura shakily got up, trying to recover from the pain. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Want to try our luck?"

Sasuke smirked and they both charged at the clone with abnormal speed for Genins. The clone managed to fight them off. Naruto smiled.

"Sasuke, time for plan B. Want to try that new combo we've been working on?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Let's go!"

Naruto formed a mass of Kage Bunshins and dog piled the Zabuza clone, however they were thorwn off and destroyed, which was exactly what Naruto wanted. One of Naruto's clones covered the real Naruto as he Henge'd into a Fuma Shuriken, which the clone caught in his bag. Pretending to open his bag and look for something, the Naruto clone chucked the folded pair of Fuma Shurikens to Sasuke who caught them. Once he'd opened them, he jumped into the air and threw them at the Zabuza clone, only they missed him and continued on towards the real Zabuza.

"Oh? Going for me this time? A petty attack like that won't work."

Zabuza caught the Shuriken only to see a second one hiding in it's shadow.

"Nor will that!"

The Fuma Shuriken continued past Zabuza, although Naruto and Sasuke smiled and spoke just loud enough to be heard by Tazuna and Sakura.

"Fuma Shuriken Henge combo, success."

Just then, the still airborne Fuma Shuriken was surrounded by a cloud of smoke revealing the real Naruto, who threw a kunai at the real Zabuza's head. Zabuza had two options. Cop the kunai full in the face or move out of the way and cancel the prison. Choosing the latter, he pulled his hand out and almost dodged the kunai wizzing past his head, making a small gash just beneath his eye. Zabuza started spinning the first Fuma Shuriken, preparing to decapitate the kid as he fell helplessly towards the water. However, just as he was about to release it, Kakashi blocked the Fuma Shuriken with the metal plates on the back of his gloves. Naruto fell into the water and broke the surface, smiling his foxy grin. Sasuke smiled.

"When you got caught in that prison, we didn't have a choice of wanting to run or not. If we had, Zabuza would have killed you and then picked us off at will. You're the crux of this team at the moment. Both Naruto and I thought through several different ways of freeing you and we both realised that our combo we made just before we left for this mission was our best chance. The mass of Kage Bunshins was nothing more than a neccessary diversion needed to hide the true combo, which consisted of two Fuma Shurikens. We knew you'd catch one and there was a big chance that you'd let the other one go past since both your hands were occupied, so the second one was Naruto in a Henge, who exploited that weakness."

Kakashi smiled at them.

"Good job. I'm proud of you. I wouldn't have expected any less from a former prankster and a shuriken specialist. You've both grown exponentially."

Kakashi and Zabuza spang back and started forming seals. The long seal chain ended in Tori as they both announced the jutsu.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A pair of dragons made entirely out of water rose out of the water and twisted around each other in a double helix shape, before lunging at one another. They clashed several more times before the jutsu was released, causing a shower to fall over the area. Kakashi and Zabuza sprang forward and locked blades; Zabuza with his sword and Kakashi with a kunai. They sprung back from the dead lock and stared at each other before running in half a circle. When Zabuza stopped, so did Kakashi. Zabuza prepared to do the Ninpou, Kirigakure no Jutsu again, and found that Kakashi was again mirroring his movments perfectly. Zabuza lowered his raised arm three quarters of the way, mirroered by Kakashi and began thinking.

_'This guy... My movement is being perfectly...'_

Kakashi finished his thought out loud for him.

"Predicted by him."

_'Nani? He read what I was going to say in my mind?'_

Zabuza formed a Tori seal, which Kakashi mirrored.

_'Damn it, this guy...'_

"Has such unplesant eyes, right?"

Zabusa formed a Tora seal and laughed.

"What you're doing is copying, nothing original."

They both said the next sentence in unison.

"You can't beat me, you monkey."

Zabuza's bloodshot eyes widened and he began forming hand seals.

"I'll make sure you can never open that copy cat mouth of yours again!"

Just as Zabusa got to the last few seal, he noticed a shaodw behind Kakashi.

"That's... Me? Is it Genjutsu?"

This gave Kakashi the break he needed to finish the last three hand seals and perform the jutsu.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

Zabuza was scared out of his mind.

"N... Nani? This can't be!"

The water that had been collecting itself into a ring around Kakashi shot forward in a torrent of water and blew Zabuza away into the current, leaving him to scream all the way. Eventually, the torrents subsided, leaving Zabuza pinned against a tree. 4 kunais flew at him and imbedded themselves into him, one in each limb. Zabuza looked up into the tree to see Kakashi staring at him.

"This is the end."

"Why... Can you see the future?"

"Yeah. Your future is death."

As Kakashi had predicted, two senbon needles flew out of the scrub and punctured Zabuza in the neck. Zabuza dropped to the ground, lifeless. By this time, the others had arrived. Kakashi went to the body of Zabuza and felt for a pulse. When he confirmed there was none, he looked at the masked boy.

"It was true. He did die. Thank you, I've been hunting Zabuza for months."

The boy with the ANBU mask walked up to the body and began picking it up, however Naruto stopped him.

"You're a hunter nin, right?"

The boy stopped and looked at him.

"That is correct. Why do you ask?"

"If you're a hunter nin, then do your job properly. A hunter nin ia required to destroy the body of the target exactly where the body falls in battle. Put him down and destroy him. All you need is his head for proof, not the entire body."

The hunter nin tensed before he lopped Zabuza's shoulder over him and body flickered away before anyone had a chance to stop him. Naruto cursed loudly.

"DAMN IT! I knew something was up with that guy!"

At that moment, Kakashi collapsed, making everyone run over to him. Naruto checked him and found he was survivng on practically no chakra.

"He's suffering chakra exahustion. We need to get him to a place to rest soon or he could die."

They nodded and turned to Tazuna.

"My village isn't far from here. If you can carry him, I'll lead the way."

They nodded. Sasuke and Naruto supported one shoulder each and helped carry him while Sakura covered Tazuna.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, At Tazuna's House:**

Kakashi awoke to the sound of seagulls crying, sunlight streaming in his window and the smell of salt thick in the air. He moved his head to the side slowly and saw Naruto looking over a book with Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto turned his head to Kakashi.

"Morning, Kakashi-Sensei."

When Naruto said that, they heard footsteps aproach the door. When they reached the door, it slid open to reveal a woman with long black hair and a pink jumper with red highlights. She smiled.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Kakashi-San. How are you feeling?"

Kakashi groaned.

"I used my Sharingan far too much yesterday. I'll take a while to recover."

Sasuke nodded.

"Due to the level of chakra exaushtion he's suffering from, I'd say about a week."

Kakashi nodded.

"So, what are you three studying?"

Sakura looked at him with a look of concern in her eyes.

"We were studying the weapon that boy used and it's uses. Apparently, it's a type of needle that is used for accupuncture healing, but it can be used to kill if you have perfect accuracy and a complete understanding of the human anatomy. Also, it seems that people who have that level of knowledge and skill can just as easily put someone in a near death state. Kakashi-Sensei. Zabuza is still alive."

Tazuna gasped at this, but Kakashi nodded.

"I'm amazed you three were able to come to that conclusion, however, it is correct. Zabuza is still alive. Luckily for us, putting someone in a near death state no matter how efficient they are will still cause a massive amount of strain on the target's body. Zabuza won't be able to use his body for about a week either."

Kakashi smiled at them.

"Not only have you three grown in skill, but also in knowledge. I'm proud of you."

Naruto smiled.

"Seems things are starting to get interesting."

"No they're not."

They turned to see a small boy in a green one piece that stopped just above the knees. Beneithe that was a beige shirt. He was also wearing a broad brimmed hat with two navy blue stripes. Naruto looked at him.

"Who are you?"

Tazuna bent down and put his hand on the boy's head.

"This is my grandson, Inari."

Inari looked at them in contempt.

"Why did you hire them? They're just going to die."

Naruto laughed.

"If you think I'm going to die to these chumps, you have another thing coming."

Sasuke smirked.

"Naruto's right. None of us will die. We all have goals in life that we swore to complete, and we can't die until they are complete. We've been through a hell of a lot. A stupid Jounin is nothing."

"You guys think too much of yourselves. Anyone who goes against Gato will die."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Let me tell you something. Every single person who has underestimated us, no matter what rank they were have either died or been competely humiliated. Genin, Chunin, Jounin, ANBU, they're all the same. Those who underestimate us will pay."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, however, Inari smirked.

"You have no idea what you're up against. Just go home."

With that, Inari turned around and left the room. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"He's got something big shoved up his-"

Sakura clamped a hand over Naruto's mouth when she saw Tsunami and Tazana's reactions. Tazuna sighed.

"I have to appologise for my grandson's behaviour. Ever since he lost his dad, he's been like that."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. Kakashi decided to lighten the mood.

"Well, I think you three need to do some training to help you in the upcoming fight."

Naruto looked down at Kakashi.

"What practical training can you show us in your state?"

Kakashi smiled and pulled a pair of crutches that had been laid beside his bed to him, as he slowly got up.

"I'll show you."

They followed Kakashi out into the woods until he faced three threes. Kakashi turned to face them.

"Right. You three are going to climb trees."

Sakura looked at Kakashi in doubt, but Naruto and Sasuke knew where this was going.

"Without your hands."

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelif. Naruto turned to Kakashi.

"Ne, Kakashi-Snesei. Sasuke and I can already do this. We learnt it about a week before we came here. We're trying to do the water walking exercise now."

Kakashi nodded.

"Then show me."

Naruto and Sasuke walked up to the trees and concerntraited their chakra before placing a foot on the tree and walking up. They both decided to hang upside down on a branch for effect. Sakura was boggling at them as if they'd grown an extra head. Kakashi, on the other hand, smiled.

"Ok, you two. After I explain this to Sakura, I'll help you with the water walking exercise."

They nodded and dropped to the ground, doing a neat backflip and landing gracefully on the soft captet of leaves. Kakashi turned to Sakura and explained the theory behind the exercise _'The hell I'm going to type it out here'_ Sakura steeled herself and ran at the tree, and to everyone's suprise, got up first go. However, upon reconsidering Sakura's abilities, which centered around perfect chakra control, it really was no suprise. Kakashi led them to a nearby lake and began teaching them the theory behind the waterwalking exercise. By the end of the day, they had all managed to be able to at least walk across the lake at brisk pace. Kakashi decided to call it a day and they returned to Tazuna's house for dinner.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, on the Bridge:**

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were patrolling the brodge for any signs of enemies. At about midday, Tazuna called everyone to the middle of the bridge for a break. They talked with each other while eating. Eventually, one person stood up. He looked at Tazuna.

"Tazuna-San, I... I can't keep working."

"Giichi? Why?"

"Tazuna, I've known you for a long time, but if I keep building this bridge, Gato will come after me, too. Everything will lose meaning if you die... Why don't we stop building this bridge?"

Everyone began muttering before Tzuna turned away.

"We can't do that, Giichi. This is our bridge. All our hopes rest on this bridge. Distribution and transportation to this poor country, which has few resources, will increase."

"But we'll die if we continue."

"No you won't. Not with us here."

They turned to see the three ninja looking at them.

"To you, we may just be a bunch of kids you hired to help, but to us, a mission is a mission, and we complete each and every mission with our full efforts. None of you will die while we're around."

They nodded before they turned back to Tazuna who sighed, taking off his hard hat.

"Guys, take an extended luch break. Don't push yourselves too hard."

The day wore on as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura kept their patrol of the bridge up. At night, they studied scrolls they had brought with them. This routine kept going for a week until the evening before Zabuza and Kakashi were supposed to make a full recovery. They were enjoying their dinner, wondering why Naruto and Sasuke were out training for so long when the door opened and they came limping in, supporting one another. They smiled at the group.

"Sorry we're late. We were inventing a new combo."

Kakashi smiled.

"No problem. Take a seat and eat up."

Tazuna sighed.

"I've been meaning to ask you a question for a while now. Why did you keep going with this mission when you worked out I lied about the difficulty of the mission?"

Kakashi folded his hands infront of him.

"Not doing the right thing when you know it is is the cowards way. There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander."

Naruto smiled.

"Those are the teachings of our previous Hokage, the Yondaime."

Inari started crying, causing everyone to stare at him. He stood up and slammed his fists on the table.

"Why are your trying so hard that you end up like that? You can't beat Gatoh's men even if you train! No matter how hard you try with those good-looking words, you can't beat him!"

Sasuke and Naruto stood, towering over the boy.

"Say that again you spoilt brat. I dare you."

Everyone turned to them. Naruto growled out.

"What the hell would you know? You're spoilt. You lost your dad, so what? You still have some family members left! I would KILL almost anyone I had to to have a single family member! Do you want to know what we went through? HUH?"

Sasuke slammed his fist on the table, causing it to crack.

"Both of us have no family left. My entire clan was murdered by my thirteen year old brother who used a technique to force me to rewatch him killing the entire clan for 3 days straight! Naruto here never had a family. His mother died giving birth to him and his father died fighting a god damn demon to save a village who would kill him the first chance they got if it wasn't for our current Hokage threatening anyone who harms him with death! On top of that, the nine most powerful people in the world are hunting him for sport, one of who is my brother! You don't understand what true pain means! So you can just keep crying like the drama queen you are!"

At this, Inari backed up and ran from the room, slamming the door behind him. Tsunami had no idea that these boys managed to put on such brave faces despite what they went through. She began to appologise to them, but Naruto held up a hand.

"Save it. I don't want pity or sympathy, neither does Sasuke."

With that, they left to go to their rooms for the night, leaving the others to think about what had happened.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Naruto and Sasuke woke to find a note that the others had gone to the bridge and to meet them there. Naruto jumped out of bed, which woke Sasuke. Sasuke looked at the note and quickly got changed. They both ran downstairs and waved goodbye to Tsunami. When they were flying through the trees, Naruto noticed slash marks on a group of trees. He motioned for Sasuke to follow him to the area, and when they got there, they saw a freshly killed boar with slash marks all over it. Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Go on ahead. I'll catch up after I take care of them."

Sasuke nodded and the split up. Sasuke heading for the bridge while Naruto headed back to the house. Naruto arrived back just in time to see Inari charging blindly at two rouge ninjas. Just as they were about to unleash their sword attacks, Naruto used a Kawarimi to replace Inari with a log. Naruto laid Inari on the ground.

"Inari, although your attack would have gotten you killed, it gave me the cover I needed to save you. Watch how real ninja's fight."

Inari nodded dumbly as the two ninjas charged at him. Naruto threw two shuriken at them which they deflected with minimum effort.

"Those sorts of attacks won't work against us gaki."

Naruto smiled.

"Won't it?"

They turned around in time to see that the shurikens were actually clones of Naruto, who released the Henge and gave them a round house kick to the head, knocking them out. Once he'd tied them up, Naruto turned to Inari.

"Inari, I need you to do me a favor."

Inari looked up at Naruto.

"Once you take your mum inside, get the villagers to come to the bridge with whatever weapons they can find. Gatoh and his men will die today. I'm counting on you."

With that, Naruto waved and sped off to the bridge while Inari pulled Tsunami back inside and ran off to get the villagers.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back at the Bridge:**

Kakashi was in a stale mate with Zabuza, while Sasuke was just beginning to experience Haku's Gekke Genkai. At that point, Naruto threw a shuriken and scored a driect hit on Haku's mask. Naruto pressed his advantage and charged at Haku, stunning everyone. However, Haku was able to get back inside the morror just in time. Naruto didn't expect this and plowed through the mirror, which promptly replaced itself. Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Have you managed to work out how this thing works yet?"

Sasuke shook his head. Just as they got to their feet, Haku appeared in all of the mirrors, suprising Naruto. Soon after, they were peppered with a shower of senbon needles, causing them to scream in agony. Kakashi looked in their direction when he heard the sound, causing Zabuza to laugh.

"No one has EVER survived Haku's Gekke Genkai. Those kid's have had it."

Kakashi looked at Zabuza square in the eye.

"No, they'll live."

"Hmm? What makes you say that?"

"Sasuke is one of the two last surviving members of Konoha's Uchiha clan, and Naruto is also the container for the Kyubi no Kitsune. They will not lose."

At the description of what Naruto was, Zabuza stared at Kakashi in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me, Zabuza. They won't lose."

Zabuza was about to turn his back on Kakashi and deal with the punks, but Kakashi stopped him.

"You shouldn't turn your back on an opponent."

Zabuza sighed.

"Let's continue then."

Back in the room of ice mirrors, Naruto decided to try something.

"Sasuke, watch him closely."

Sasuke nodded as Naruto formed the hand seal for Kage Bunshin, creating a clone for each mirror. Sasuke stared at the clones, trying to see how he attacked. The clones were defeated before one of them could reach a mirror, and the real Naruto fell back to the ground, coming to a stop besides Sasuke. Naruto looked up at him questioningly, to which Sasuke shook his head. Naruto stood up.

"Again!"

Again, Naruto formed the seal and sent the clones at the mirrors. Sasuke concerntraited on a blob of water that was floating in mid air, and saw that it was disrupted by something twice. Naruto crashed back to the floor, and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke didn't make any movements this time, which Naruto had by now understood as an 'I'm not sure'. Again, Naruto sent another wave of clones, however, this time, Sasuke kicked water into the air, and watched the water intently. He saw the water being parted and moved as if something was flying through the water. Once Naruto landed, he saw a slight nod, which wasn't a full 'yes, I saw him', but more of a 'I definitely saw something'. Naruto formed another wave and sent them, while Sasuke formed his own technique. The clones were easily dispatched while Sasuke used his Katon Jutsu on a seemingly empty space. Once Naruto fell back to the ground, he stared at Sasuke. Sasuke pointed to a mirror, and Naruto saw that the boy's pants had been singed. They tried several times to get out, however, each time they failed. Finally, Naruto pumped chakra into his feet to increase his speed, but he was pepered with a bunch of senbon needles, causing him to fall to the floor. Sasuke went to kneel beside Naruto.

"Naruto, are you ok? Can you stand?"

Naruto tried to get up, but fainted before he could even get onto his hands and knees. Sasuke looked around. Sasuke stood up, and Haku appeared in the mirror infront of him, pulling his hand back in preparation to throw the needles. Sasuke however, picked up one of the many on the floor and parrayed the attacks before slumping back to his knees. Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, you have to get up! He'll kill us!"

Naruto slowly started getting up. Haku launched another round of needles from all mirrors, however, Sasuke not only covered from himself, but for Naruto as well. However, Naruto fainted from exhaustion and blood loss. Haku launched a round at Naruto's prone body, but Sasuke bent down, picked him up and powered his jump with Chakra, missing a rain of needles by seconds. Haku stared at Sasuke, or more directly, his eyes. The irises were blood red. In his left eye, he had one mark, while his right eye had two. Haku decided to end this, and so launched an attack at Naruto's body. Sasuke however, took the attack for Naruto before throwing Haku out of the way. Naruto opened his eyes too see Sasuke standing in front of him, barely clinging to life. Naruto stared at Sasuke in horror.

"Sasuke... Why? Neither of us can afford to die... We still both need to kill them... I could have survived that... Why?"

Sasuke's lips formed the ghost of a smile.

"I didn't want to see... My adopted brother... Die..."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke in both admiration and horror.

"You think... I'm a brother?"

Sasuke nodded as he reviewed all of his memories of Naruto before falling backwards into Naruto's arms. Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"I'm... Sorry... Otouto... You'll have to kill them... For me..."

Naruto hugged Sasuke.

"Don't say that! Neither of us are going to die yet! Sasuke... I can't go on without you... I have nothing left, except you... Please... Don't die..."

Sasuke tried to put a hand on Naruto's face, but didn't make it.

"Naruto... Don't die... Until you kill them... If you don't... No one can..."

With that, Sasuke gave up his struggle for life. Naruto stared in disbelief at his friend and adoptive brother. He couldn't die. It was physically impossible! He hugged Sasuke to him and started weeping before letting out a howl of pure angish. Haku merged back into the mirror.

"Is this the first time you've seen a friend die? He was a ninja worthy of respect."

"How could you... I have nothing left... He was my last friend... My only friend... YOU BASTARD!"

With that, Naruto decided it was time.

_'Oi, Kyubi.'_

_**'Sure thing, Kit.'**_

Steam started to surround Naruto, which caught Haku's attention. The steam surrounding Naruto suddenly exploded into a wave of blood red chakra. Naruto let Kyubi take control of him. Naruto's body started to undergo a transformation. Naruto's nails grew into claws, his hair became unruly, his wisker marks turned into three dark slashes and his eues were blood red instead of the normal cerulean blue. The wounds on Naruto's body started regenerating, and the needles ejected themselves from his body. Naruto looked up at Haku with bloodlust raidiating off him. Everyone on the bridge felt the chakra and felt as it blasted the area around them. They heard what they assumed was Naruto's voice, however, it was very different from the normal Naruto.

"**YOU BASTARD! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"**

The chakra gained more force as Narut charged at Haku, deflecting the needles with a wall of chakra. Haku tried in vain to attack Naruto a few more times before Naruto caught his wrist, snapping the bones. Haku tried to hold back the force of pure evil eminating from the boy, but failed miserably. Naruto pulled his other fist back and charged chakra into it before slamming it into Haku's face, sending the boy flying.Naruto didn't stop as the remaining ice mirrors shattered. He charged at Haku and proceeded to rip his body apart. _'remember, Naruto hadn't seen Haku's face in my fic, so he had no idea who it was'_ Naruto turned round and stared directly at Zabuza.

"**You're next, shithead."**

Before Kakashi could stop Naruto, Naruto charged at Zabuza, who was being held down by Kakashi's ninja dogs. Naruto charged chakra into his fist and slammed it through Zabuza's chest. Sakura stared in horror at Naruto. This wasn't the Naruto she knew... Naruto turned back to the end of the bridge and saw Gatoh and his mean there, watching.

"**Fresh meat."**

Naruto charged at the people, slicing a path through them to get to Gatoh at the back. Naruto smiled sadisticly at him.

"**Die, scumbag."**

Naruto grabbed Gatoh's neck and crushed both his windpipe and spine, causing him to slump to the floor, already dead. Naruto turned to the mercinaries.

"**I haven't had a good feed in 12 years. This will be a nice appatiser."**

The men started backing up, but Kyubi controlled Naruto didn't give them the chance. He started ripping into them, pulling arms and legs off, putting his hand through their chests, and used other sadistic methods to kill them. By now, Sakura, Kakashi and Tazuna were mortified at what Naruto was doing. Naruto finished killing the last one and slowly regained control of his body. He slumped to his hands and knees, as he saw what he had just done. He threw up and began convulsing badly, causing Kakashi to run over to him. Kakshi saw that Naruto was suffering from severe psychological trauma, which really wasn't suprising. Kakashi gathered Naruto up and ran back to Sakura.

"Sakura! Get Sasuke! We're going to the hospital!"

Kakashi and Sakura ran past the amassing group of villagers who had arrived with weapons like Naruto had asked for, and were shocked to see a blood soaked Naruto convulsing violently in Kakashi's arms, while Sakura was carrying Sasuke close behind him. They understood when they saw the state the bridge was in and looked in absolute horror at the scene of carnage that was worse than any nightmares they had had before. Tazuna dispersed them, and went to check on the Konoha ninjas.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Apparently, Sasuke had only been in a near death state. As soon as he was able to he rushed to see Naruto, who was sweating profusely and shivering, moaning incoherent words. Sasuke looked to Kakashi for an explination.

"Sasuke, when Naruto saw you die, he went beserk. He killed Haku, then Zabuza, and then killed over 200 thugs as well as Gatoh in under 2 minutes. When he came back to his senses, he saw what he had done and has been like this ever since."

Sasuke looked at Kakshi in shock. He turned to Naruto, who was still convulsing. Sasuke laid a hand on Naruto's which instantly seemed to have an effect. Although Naruto didn't stop convulcing completely, the spasms died down considerably. Kakashi noticed this, and decided that it would be best to head back to Konoha, as the medical adequacy of this hospital was no where near up to scratch.

"Sasuke, I need you to carry Naruto back the who way. I'm sorry if it's a burden, but-"

Sasuke shook his head.

"It's fine, I understand. I hate to see Naruto like this."

Sasuke lifted Naruto off the bed, and walked out of the room to see that Sakura was waiting for them. Kakashi nodded to her and they walked out of the Wave's hospital. Once they had collected the payment, they left for Konoha.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** YOSH! This is the sort of length I try and aim for in chapters! Sorry if you think the killing spree was way OOC, but then again, the whole idea of this fic is to imagine what Naruto would be like if he was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I've studied a bit of human psychology, and what Naruto did and the after effects of it are what would have most likely happened, given the circumstances he was in. Anyways, I'll catch you all round! Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	3. Chunin Exams Part 1

**A/N:** Yo! I'm not late this time, as it's still the same day I uploaded the last chapter-

Readers: GET ON WITH IT!

Right. Comments/Reviews/Suggestions:

**packjack:** Well, Kyubi's taken an interest in training Naruto personally, at least in the theoretical side of things. One of the first things Kyubi told Naruto about in one of their sessions is Akasuki. Kyubi left Naruto to do research into it.

**ChaosRonin:** Well, Naruto had never called Kyubi out before, so he had no idea what to expect.

**TrapedSoul:** You have to remember that since Sasuke and Naruto have become close friends, their personalities would naturally rub off a little bit on each other. Sasuke got some of Naruto's determination, while Naruto got a touch of Sasuke's cockyness. If you see most long term friends in R/L, you'll notice it's the same with them too.

**Lyteko:** Well, if you don't want to read anymore, that's your choice. As I've said, Naruto had to learn as much about Akatsuki as possible at Kyubi's insistance. This meant learning about the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist and their styles of fighting. Zabuza was well known for his 'eight points' speech even in the official story, so Naruto learnt about it and when he would most likely use it. As for knowing about the stuff going on in the Wave, do you trully honestly believe that the Hokage didn't have at least an idea of what was happening? I suggest you review the anime episode where the Hokage hands it out again. If you look, you can see signs that the Hokage knows the mission is not what it appears to be. Naruto also knew about it because of rumours that Zabuza was seen around the area, meaning he did research into it. If you've seen some of the manga, Naruto doesn't just mess around at home. He studies most of the time. However, he sucks at theoretical study in the official story line. In mine, he excells at it. You should have waited until you read this chapter. Naruto gets pwned by Orochimaru. However, you said you'd stop reading it. Your loss, not mine.

**kitsune of the underworld:** I made him strong to start off with. Read this chapter to find out how he's still weak. Also, if you've noticed, when Naruto went Kyubified at the Wave in the official story line, he absolutely kicked Haku's ass until he saw his face. Considering Zabuza was a sitting duck, and the group were just regular thugs who Zabuza carved a line through with nothing buy a kunai in his mouth, do you really find it that unbeliveable that Naruto cained them? I certainly don't. It's atcually quite logical. I have to agree with you though about the repeating of the family deaths and wahtnot, however, both times I sued them suited the situation. Anyways, hope you keep reading!

**Shadow Kitsune67:** Thank you. Latest chapter is below :P

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

"**_...Biju thoughts..."_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 3:

Chunin Exams:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two Weeks Later:**

Once Team Seven got back from the Wave, Naruto had been taken directly to the hospital for a week of intensive phychological treatment. Naruto's condition had slowly improved, and about the end of the week, Naruto woke up for the first time. The hospital staff didn't want him in there any longer than absolutely neccesary, so they falsified Naruto's files and discharged him several hours after he woke up. After Naruto woke up, he was requested to immediately come to the Hokage's office. Once there, the Hokage told Naruto that he would not be allowed to leave the village for several weeks until they confirmed his mental stability. Naruto was left to attend regular team training, so he walked with Sasuke to the trainig area. To their suprise, Kakashi was there waiting for them. He smiled at them, in particular, Naruto.

"How are you feeling, Naruto?"

Naruto's face was blank when he answered.

"Ok, I guess."

Kakashi nodded, pulling out three slips of paper and handing it to them. Naruto looked at it.

"Chunin Exam?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I think all three of you are ready for it. Remember, take care of yourselves. As a final note, entry is voluntary. If you want to enter, sign it and turn up to room three oh one tomorrow morning at 7am. Catch you round!"

With that, Kakashi poofed out of existance, leaving Team 7 to sort out what to do.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**6:30am, Next Morning:**

Team Seven met up outside the Academy and walked in. They pushed through a throng of other Chunin hopefuls to the front and stared at the specticle. Sasuke smirked.

"What kind of corny Genjutsu is this? This is floor 2. Move."

The two people guarding room '301' smiled.

"Seems one team is up to scratch. Yup, this is a Genjutsu."

The sign above the door swirled to reveal it was indeed 201. Sasuke gave his usual confident smirk.

"Naruto, Sakura. You both noticed it too, right?"

They both nodded. One of the Chuinin's guarding the door smiled.

"Then lets see if you notice this."

The Chunin and Sasuke went to kick, however, Naruto charged in and grabbed the Chunin, hurling him against the wall with a look of pure rage on his face.

"Try that again, Teme, and I'll kill you."

Everyone backed off as Team Seven walked past, up the next set of stairs to the third floor. When they were there, they heard a shout from behind them.

"Oi, you with the blonde hair. Wait."

Naruto stopped and saw a green spandex wearing boy with a bowl cut and super eyebrows. The boy flipped over the railing and landed on the floor with them.

"I am Rock Lee. I would like to know who you are."

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

Lee smiled.

"Would you like to fight?"

Naruto stopped breathing. He turned around and continued walking. Lee had no clue what was going on.

"Are you running?"

Naruto stopped.

"If you value your life, then leave. If we fight, I may be unable to control myself. If that happens, I can garuntee your death."

Sasuke nodded.

"I'd take his advice. I've seen what he can do. He's out of your league."

Lee left to go back to his teammates while Team 7 walked up to the door to see Kakashi standing there. He smiled at them in that infuriatingly laid back fashion.

"Good to see you're all here. Since all three of you turned up, I can let you in."

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-Sensei?"

"If one of you had not come, I would have had to turn the other two away, as this can only be taken in three man cells. Since all three of you are here, you can go. I wish you luck."

With that, they passed Kakashi and pushed open the door. What they saw they didn't expect. Over a hundred people staring at them. As they walked in the door, they heard a squeel as a shock of platinum blonde hair in purple clothing attached itself to Sasuke. Sasuke immedaitly growled.

"Get. Off. Me."

Ino got off Sasuke as she saw the look on his face. She could tell he really didn't want to be bothered right now. The rest of Ino's team made their way over. They nodded at each other. However, the resident loud mouth of their year decided yelling would be a good idea.

"Yahoo! Found you!"

Kiba and his teammates Shino and Hinata stood behind him. Hinata was concerned at the look on her crush's face.

"N-Naruto-Kun? Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded his head slowly. At that point, a silver haired bespectacled man came over. He had a Konoha symbol on his forehead.

"You guys should probably be aware of your surroundings. Take a look around you."

They did so, seeing that people were glaring at them with hatred. They turned back to Kabuto.

"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information, then..."

Kabuto reached back into his bag and pulled out a stack of orange cards. He put the top one on the ground and began spinning it with his finger. He released a bit of Chakra and the blank card let off a small amount of smoke to reveal a three dimentional world map and bar graph. Kabuto looked up at them.

"Each country has sent participants to the Exams this year. This gives a breakdown of how many from each country are attending. The newest Village is the Village of Oto. They only have three entrants and they're a small village, so I don't have much information on them."

At this point, Kabuto became aware of three people rushing out of the croud to attack him. One of them threw two kunais at him while another appeared right in front of him and struck at his face, however he missed. Kabuto smiled.

"You seemed to have missed."

The bandaged guy smiled.

"Really?"

At that point, Kabuto's glasses cracked and he coughed up blood. Naruto's mind was still fresh with the scene of carnage back at the Wave, and he began quivering. _'Kinda like Tsunade when she first appears.'_ Sasuke turned to Naruto and pulled out a jar that the medical staff had given him in case Naruto relapsed again. The sound nins laughed.

"He suffers that much from seeing a bit of blood? What a weakling."

Sasuke glared at him.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumours of the massacre at the Wave two weeks ago?"

They nodded.

"Naruto was there to witness it first hand. Trust me, the rumours don't do the massacre justice."

The Sound nin with the head guard looked at Naruto.

"So, you survived that eh? You're lucky."

Sasuke shook his head.

"Would you consider him lucky if he was the one who-"

Naruto cut him off.

"Sasuke, don't."

Sasuke nodded and shut up. He decided to pop the top of the jar off and pulled one of the dark brown pellets out.

"Naruto, please eat this. It should lessen the backlash."

Naruto ate it before finally calming himself after 20 or so seconds, slowly stopping his shivering. At that point, there was an explosion of smoke in the front of the room. Everyone turned to see the smoke clear, revealing a man in a black trench coat with a line of men and women in grey jumpsuits.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm the Chunin Exam's first examiner, Morino Ibiki."

Ibiki leveled his finger at the tree from Oto.

"You three from the Hidden Village of Oto! Don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want us to fail you already?"

The bandaged one turned to Ibiki.

"My appologies. I was excited since this was my first exam."

Ibiki smirked as he surveyed the Genin in the room.

"This is a good chance to say this... You are not allowed to fight anyone without the permission of the examiners. If permission is given, depending on the situation, you may or may not be allowed to kill your opponent. Pigs who go against me will be failed immediately. Understood?"

The Genins didn't say a word, which Ibiki took as a yes. Ibiki smiled coldy at them.

"We will now begin the first test of the Chunin Exam. Turn in your applications and take one of these number tags. Sit where the number tells you. Then we will pass out papers for the written exam. The Chunin next to Ibiki put a stack of papers on the desk and started putting them face down. Once everyone had taken their place, Ibiki tapped the chalk on the board.

"This exam has several important rules. Listen up, because I'm only saying these once and I will not accept questions. First rule: You are all given 10 points at the start. Unlike regular tests, this test is a subtraction test. For each question you do not answer or answer incorrectly, you lose one point. Each question is worth one point and there are 10 questions. If you answer three incorrectly, you lose 3 points, leaving you with 7. Rule two: The pass-fail decision is determined by your team's total points."

Sakura slammed her head on the desk and began protesting.

"Shut up! I said to not interfere! There is a reason for this, so shut up and listen. Now that you know about that rule, let's move on to the next one. If one of the examiers catches you doing any sort of suspicious activities like cheating, they will mark you down by two points. In other words, there will be those who are forced to leave this place before their tests are graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves."

One of the Chunin lowered his head to hide his sneer.

"We'll 'check' you at any time."

"You are all trying to become Chunin. If you are a ninja, act like a first-rate one. Finally, if anyone in a team gets zero, they and their teammates will be failed immediately."

People began muttering amongst themselves, but Ibiki quietened them.

"The last question will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour for this exam. BEGIN!"

Not a single student failed to comply. Naruto looked at the paper in amuzement.

_'I can't answer a single damn one of these questions. These aren't even Chunin level questions. Kyubi? Any ideas?'_

Naruto had only just recently started talking to Kyubi again after he appologised for his behavior in the Wave. Someohw, letting Kyubi control Naruto had opened a telepathic link of sorts that let them communicate without entering the subconcious mind.

_**'I may not understand the questions themselves, but I understand the idea the questions are trying to get across. Tap the signal for Sasuke to copy you.'**_

Naruto tapped his pencil on the table seven times, indicating Sasuke to use his Sharingan on Naruto. Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan and copied Naruto's movements, which stopped at odd intervals before resuming. Sakura was fine answering the questions by herself, and they all finished at about the same time. Once they had finished, Naruto tapped the pencil on the table 3 times, indicating to watch each other's backs for cheating attempts. Naruto was the first one to notice one directed at Sakura from Ino, who had obviously been waiting for Sakura to finish. Naruto tapped once, indicating Sakura was under attack, so to speak. Sakura 'accidentally' dropped her pencil on the floor, leaning down just as Ino's projected mind would have struck her body. Since Sakura wasn't there, Ino's mind past her seat and shot out the window, not to return for several minutes. Sakura picked up her pencil and tapped once to indicate she was ok. There was only a minute left until the final question was given. When that minute was up, Ibiki addressed them.

"I will now give the 10th problem! Oh, but before that, there's one thing I must say... There will be a special rule for this last question."

Just then, the door opened and Kankuro came back in.

"You're just in time. I trust your playing with dolls was benificial?"

Kankuro said nothing as he walked past his blonde haired team mate, expertly dropping a rolled up piece of paper onto her desk before he took his seat.

"I will now explain. This is... A hopless rule! The first part of that rule is whether you want to take the question or not."

Temari called out to Ibiki.

"Choose not to take it? What if we decline?"

"Then I will reduce you and your teams points to zero, failing you immediately."

This caused a stir in the Genin, which Ibiki promptly put a stop to.

"If you don't shut up, I'll fail you all right here and now. That was the first part of the rule. The second part is, if you decide to take it and answer it incorrectly, you will be refused entry to all future Chunin exams!"

Kiba pointed a finger at Ibiki.

"What kind of a stupid rule is that? There are those here who've failed before!"

Ibiki laughed coldly.

"Unfortunately for you, this is my first time as an examiner. The other times, the rules were diffierent. However, while you're in my exam, you will submit to my rules or get out. Those who are not confident in themselves, I have been kind enough to give the option of leaving with minimal consequesnces, and take the exam next year or the year after that."

Ibiki let this sink in, before continuing.

"Let's begin. Those who do not feel confident, raise your hand. After we have confirmed your numbers, you will be required to leave."

After about a minute, someone finally cracked and raised their hand. It was the guy right next to Naruto.

"I... I... I won't take it! I quit!"

"Number 50, fail. Number 130 and 111 fail along with him."

This set off a chain reaction, with over a quarter of the remaining people's hands being raised. After a while, people stopped raising their hands. Ibiki looked over the rest. The rest of them either showed no emotions on their face, or they showed pure confidence. Ibiki realised this wasn't going to get any further, and so smiled at them.

"Well then the rest of you... PASS!"

People had no idea how to respond. Naturally, Sakura was the first to respond.

"Wait! What's the meaniing of this! What happened to the 10th question?"

Ibiki laughed light heartedly.

"There was no such thing to begin with. However, if you really want to believe there was a 10th question, I guess you could call the 'take or not take' decision the tenth question."

Temari was next to question.

"Then the first nine questions were useless!"

Ibiki smiled.

"Were they? No, they served their purpose. The first nine questions tested your information gathering skills. First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule. Your pass-fail decision os based on your three person teams. By giving you that idea, we were placing a huge load of pressure onto each of you to not let your teams down. As the majority of you noticed almost straight away, these are not Genin level questions, and some of them are not even Chunin level questions. So the majority of people must have come to the conclusion that you had to cheat to get the answers!"

Naruto sighed and thought.

_'I wonder if consulting a 4000 year old demon is considered cheating...'_

"Therefore, this test was made with the idea in mind that each and every one of you were going to cheat. So we snuck two Chunins in who knew the answers to be the target of cheating. Naturally, those who cheated poorly were failed."

At this point, Ibiki began undoing his hitai-ate which covered the top of his head. Naruto knew what was coming and looked away, stopping himself from relapsing. Everyone else looked at Ibiki in horror. Ibiki continued his explination.

"Why? Information can have a greater value than life sometimes, and in missions and battlefields, information is contested for with people's lives! The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not entirely be accurate. Remember this. Getting incorrect information can cause great damahe to your teammates and your village. So we all made you gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those that were lacking in that field, that's what the first nine questions were about."

Temari apparently still wasn't satisfied.

"Then what about the last question?"

"The 10th question is the main part of this test. Let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take or not take' choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two choice problem. Those who did not take it failed the entire exam along with their team. If you did take it and got it wrong, you had your right to take the Chunin exam permanently revoked. It was a very incincere problem. Let me put this problem into a real life situation. Let's assume that you have become Chunin. Your mission is to capture a secret document. The number of enemy ninja, their abilities and armarments are unknown, as well as the fact that the enemy ninja may have set traps for you. Now, will you accept this mission or not? Just because your life and the lives of your teammates are on the line, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is: NO! There are missions that will carry heavy risks that you will be unable to avoid. The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through a bad situation. That is what we look for in a Chunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their lives in a critical situation, those who give up when given the chance because there is a 'next year', and let their minds sway over an uncertain future, do not deserve the right to wear a Chunin jacket. That is what I believe. I am saying that those of you here who have chosen to take it have given the correct answer to the difficult 10th question. You will be able to deal with the difficulties a Chunin must face. You have broken through the entrance! Congratulations on passing the first test! I wish you all luck."

At that point, a gaint black ball smashed through the window, before unfurling itself, with two kunai driving into the roof to reveal...

"Everyone! There's no time to be happy! I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko!"

Everyone looked at her as if she were an alien. Behind her, the black piece of cloth read 'The second examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here!' Anko wore a VERY short brown mini skirt with fishnet leggings that went half way down her thighs. She wore a beige trech coat and a fishnet shirt underneath that left practically nothing to the imaginaton. She wore metal greaves and black sandals. She had purple hair that was pulled back into a very Shikamaru like pinapple hair style.

"Let's go to the next exam! Follow me!"

Ibiki came out from behind the piece of cloth.

"Grasp the atmosphere before you barge in here."

Anko looked over the remaining Genin.

"78 Genin? The first test was too soft this year, Ibiki."

Ibiki shook his head.

"No, they're all exceptional Genin. This year's crop is something far out of the ordinary."

Anko looked at them with a sadistic smile on her face.

"It doesn't matter. By the time I'm throught with them, less than half will remain. We will begin tomorrow. Ask your Jounin instructors about the rally point and time, as it won't be here. That is all. Dismissed."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, at Training Area 44, AKA, Forest of Death:**

Everyone was standing out the front of the Forest of Death as Anko introduced it to them.

"This is training area 44, also known as the Forest of Death. Before we start, I need you to sign these forms."

Naruto took one look at them and began shaking as he tried to fight off the feeling of bloodlust.

"Consent forms... People are going to die..."

Anko nodded and smiled.

"Scared?"

Sasuke body flickered and slapped a hand over her mouth, whispering just loud enough for her to hear.

"If you value your life, don't taunt him now. He's not quivering from fear. He's trying to supress the insatiable bloodlust from IT."

With that, Sasuke body flickered back beside Naruto, putting a hand on his shoulder, which calmed Naruto somewhat. Anko knew exactly what Sasuke had been talking about and decided it would be a good idea to leave Naruto alone right now. She turned back to the others.

"That's right, people will die. These forms mean you acknowledge you will die and that it is your own responsibility should it happen. I will now explain how the second test works. This test is a survival test. First, I'll explain the training area's geographical features."

Anko pulled out a scroll and let it open, revealing a map of the training ground. Training Area 44 is a circular training ground that is surrounded by 44 locked gates. The vast majority of the area is forest. However, running through the middle of the area is a river, and in the dead centre is a tower. The tower is located almost 10 kilometres from any gate. Within this confined space, you will have a no holds barred fight for these."

Anko rolled the scroll back up and put it back in her trench coat, before pulling out a set of scrolls. There was a blue scroll labeled 'Earth' and a white scroll labeled 'Heaven'.

"For every three consent forms handed in, you will receive one scroll. In other words, each team will get a single scroll. Which one you get will be decided at random. The aim of this test is to obtain a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll and make it to the center tower with your teammates within the time limit, which is 120 hours, or 5 days."

Chouji looked horrified.

"5 days? What about food?"

Anko smiled.

"The forest is a treasure trove of nature. You just have to know where to look."

Kabuto smiled as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Also, there are man eating beasts, poisonous plants and animals to deal with."

Chouji slumped.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Anko put the scrolls back where she got them from.

"People will be hurt during the fights for the scrolls, and those who cannot bare the program's strictness will emerge as well."

Shikamaru held up a hand.

"Are we allowed to quit during the exam?"

Anko turned to Shikamaru.

"As a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam. You will spend the full 5 days in the forest."

Anko looked around at the Genin teams.

"While we're on the topic, I should tell you what can fail you in this exam."

Anko held up her index finger in a bored fashion.

"First, if a team cannot bring both scrolls and all three teammates to the tower befroe the five days is up, you will fail."

Anko unfurled another finger from her closed fist.

"Second, any team who loses a teammate or produces an unrecoverable teammate will also be failed. Just as a note, you are not allowed to open the scrolls until you reach the tower."

Sakura looked interested and spoke her mind.

"What if we do?"

Anko smiled.

"That's a suprise for those of you who open it. If you become Chunin, you will be expected to handle top secret documents. It's to determine your reliability. That's it for the explination. We will exchange the concent forms for a scroll at that booth over there."

Anko pointed to a booth where three Chunin in grey outfits sat.

"Aftr we have chosen your gate entrance, everyone will begin at the same time."

Anko sighed.

"As a final piece of advice... Don't die."

They split off into their teams to sign their forms and finalize any plans they had. With Team Seven, They were discussing how to identify themselves should they be separated and someone else tries to pose as them. Naurto already had a few ideas.

"I can release a small bit of it. There is not one other person in the world who can copy that."

Sasuke nodded.

"I can activate my Sharingan and copy your movements. Only two other people can do that, and niether of them are here."

They turned to Sakura who was thinking. Naruto sighed.

"Just say something that only we would remember."

Sakura looked up.

"Like what?"

Naruto thought for a second.

"Like the name of our combo we used aganist Zabuza, or the name of Kakashi-Sensei's 'ultimate' Taijutsu move."

Sakura nodded. They signed their forms and stepped up to wait for their scrolls. The Chunins at the booth put a curtain across to stop others from seeing what each team gets and who has it. They called out.

"We will begin accepting the concent forms now."

Team Seven were the first in. They were given the Heaven scroll and assigned to gate 12. Once they were there, they waited until the Chunin assigned to their gate opened it and checked his watch. He threw the gates open and Team 7 charged into the forest, which gladly swallowed them up. About half an hour later, they were sitting in a clearing, eating a few of the rations they had brought with them.

Naruto jumped out of the way as a piece of bark flew right past where his head was less than a second ago. Naruto motioned to Sasuke and Sakura to get behind the tree. They didn't do it a second too soon either, as a giant gust of wind ripped past them, and would have blown them into the forest. The strange team from the Grass stood at the end of the little alleyway formed by the trees. The lead one spoke.

"You two go have fun somewhere else. I'll sort this out."

Team Seven came out of the bushes to see a very feminine looking man in a Sakkat. He looked at them in interest.

"You have great detection skills. You never let your guard down. Seems I can have more fun than expected."

The man used his very snake like tongue to lick his lips. He pulled his scroll of Earth out from his pack.

"You want our Scroll of Earth, right? Since you three have the scroll of Heaven."

The Grass Nin pulled the scroll up to his mouth and wrapped his tongue around it, before swallowing it whole. Team 7 stared at the man in disbelief.

"Now... Let's begin... The fight for our scrolls... By putting our lives on the line!"

The Grass nin pulled his lower eyelid down. Kyubi knew exactly what was going to happen.

_**'KIT! SHUT YOUR EYES NOW!'**_

Naruto shut his eyes just as the Grass nin unleashed his technique. Naruto felt Sasuke and Sakura fall to the ground and he opened his eyes.

"That wasn't a normal Kanashibari no Jutsu. Normally, only a few Tokubetsu Jounin and ANBU can perform that technique, and only then give off an intent to kill. You're not a Genin. In fact, due to the effects of it on Sasuke and Sakura, it seems you actually imprinted them with an image of their own death. I'd be willing to say you're one of the former Sannin, Orochimaru."

The Grass Nin looked at Naruto.

"You are correct, Naruto-Kun. I am indeed Orochimaru."

Naruto began trembling. He knew he'd have to face Orochimaru eventually, but he never in his wildest dream expected to face him so soon. At Naruto's current level, Orochimaru could kill him without breaking a sweat.

_'I... I can't die... Not yet...'_

Orochimaru threw three kunais at them. Naruto and Sasuke tried desperately to break out of the body freeze to escape. Eventually, Sasuke and Naruto managed to pull out a kunai and stab themselves to make their mind focus on the physical pain, which let them gather Sakura and flee just before the kunai would have hit them in the centre of the forehead. Orochimaru smiled.

"I see."

Sasuke and Naruto leaned up against a tree while Sakura looked art them, still recovering from the last traces of the Kanashibari no Jutsu wore off. Sakura gasped when they both simultaniously yanked the kunai's out of their legs. Naruto motioned Sasuke to look one way while Naruto looked the other. Sakura could tell by the utter seriousness on their faces that this man was not a Genin with a few unusual jutsus. This man could end their life at his leasure. Back with Orochimaru, he was analaizing what exactly they had done.

"How suprising. They got rid of the fear with pain. They are by no means normal prey."

With that, Orochimaru went off after them. Sakura was trying to ask if her teammates were alright, but they just clamped a hand over her mouth. They were trying to think of how to escape. However, Naruto screamed out a warning.

"Sasuke! Sakura! Hebi!"

They turned around and jumped out of the way as a giant brown snake clamped down around the tree trunk they were previously seated on. The snake went for Naruto who could clearly sense Orochimaru's chakra coming from the snake.

"Don't come near me you snake freak!"

Naruto threw two handfuls of shuriken at the snake who coppedthem full in the face. It hissed in pain and slammed into the ground, dead. All three of them saw a crack appear in the snake's skin and Orochimaru emerged from it.

"You really never do let your guard down. Prey needs to strain their minds all the time and run around... In th presense of a preditor."

Orochimaru somehow managed to extend his torso so he could wrap around the tree and go for Naruto. However, he was stopped by a hail of shuriken and kunai from Sasuke's direction.

"If you want to try and kill my Otouto, then you have to try me first."

Orochimaru looked at Sasuke.

"Very well, Sasuke-Kun."

Orochimaru retreated back to his body and went after Sasuke, however, again he was stopped by a barrage of kunai and shurkien.

"If you want to kill my Niisan, then you have to kill me first."

Orochimaru sighed and plotted his next move. Naruto smiled.

"Going with your 'prey' theme, even if we were to give you a replacement for our lives, namely the scroll, I highly doubt that the scroll is your objective. What do you want with us?"

Orochimaru laughed.

"You are indeed sharp, Naruto-Kun. I am not here to take this petty Chunin exam. I'm here for a very different reason."

"And what would that be?"

"Why don't we find out?"

Naruto nodded to Sasuke and they both charged at Orochimaru. Orochimaru bit his thumb and wiped it down a tatoo on his forearm. Naruto knew what that was.

"That's..."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Orochimaru was surrounded by a large cloud of smoke from which burst a giant snake with Orochimaru on top of it. The snake slapped both of them away with it's tail. Both of them slammed through a branch before hitting a much thicker branch with a resounding _thunk_. As they both plumeted back to earth, Orochimaru laughed.

"Eat them."

However They both opened their eyes. Both of their eyes were different. Naruto's were blood red instead of ceruelean blue. Sasuke's were also blood red instead of their normal obsidian black. Naruto and Sasuke both landed and gave the snake a massive punch, making the snake buckle under the power of the impact.

Naruto and Sasuke continued their endless combo of beast like punches and kicks, ripping the terain up as they did. Most of it was done by Naruto, however, their attacks were so well timed that it was impossbile to tell to others. They both back flipped off the snake and landed next to Sakura. The snake came back and whipped it's tail at them. They didn't have time to take Sakura with them, so they could only hope she managed to avoid it. Luckily, she doged the tail by mere metres. Naruto and Sasuke stood side by side, panting heavily. Orochimaru looked at them.

"What will you do? You know you cannot win. How about I pick you off one at a time?"

Sasuke sneered.

"Don't you dare. I don't care what you do to anyone else, but if you lay a finger on Naruto, I'll kill you!"

Naruto growled.

"I don't care what you do to Konoha. Burn it, kill everyone in it, it doesn't matter As long as you leave Sasuke alone, I'll let you live."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in suprise. Originally, he only planned on marking Sasuke, but Naruto's personality made him a perfect potential applicant. Orochimaru smiled.

"Well then, show me it's worth letting you live."

Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Let's get the snake bastard."

They both charged at him, before splitting off and coming at him from both sides. Orochimaru body flickered out of the way, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to do a 180 and press their backs to each others. Orochimaru body flickered all over the place, but Naruto and Sasuke kept up with his movements. They both dodged as Orochimaru slammed into the trunk they were just standing on, snapping it like a twig. Sasuke unleashed a Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu while Naruto unleashed a wave of chakra at Orochimaru, efectively pinning him from both sides. Orochimaru came out of the fire and chanrged Sasuke, who dodged the attack and stood ready. Orochimaru unleashed a wave of chakra like Naruto had, but Sasuke jumped out of the way again. Sasuke jumped up and attached himself to a brach upside down which Naruto mirrored. They both launched themselves at Orochimaru, grabbing him. Sasuke from behind and Naruto from in front. They dragged him off the branch and prepared for a combo brain smasher. Orochimaru screaned on the way down, while Naruto and Sasuke screamed back, but with words.

"We've got you!"

They slammed Orochimaru into the branch with such force that he shattered through it and kept going to the next one. This time however, the branch held from the impact, splintering and almost absorbing Orochimaru's head. They both jumped off and landed on opposite sides of him. What they didn't expect was that Orochimaru was actually a Mud Bunshin. They watched as the body turned to mud and fall into a pile of goop on the tree branch. They dodged the blizzard of kunai and jumped off the branch. Sasuke brought out some ninja wire to aid his descent, while Naruto attached his feet to the side of the tree and followed Sasuke, landing on another branch. However, they were caught off guard when Orochimaru attacked from behind with Taijutsu, landing a combo on both of them at the same time before kicking them to the ground.

"Pathetic. You're not living up to your family names."

Naruto smiled.

"Really?"

Just then, some explosive notes that they had attached to Orochimaru's back exploded, propelling him forward. Naruto looked at Sasuke and nodded. They both announced their plan in unison.

"Combo time."

Sasuke nodded and prepared for the new part of the combo he and Naruto had developed for forest warefare. Naruto formed the hand seal for his favorite technique.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

5 clones of Naruto appeared, and charged forward. Orochimaru was still recovering from the unexpected explosive notes, so he didn't get a chance to defend against Naruto's clones. They kicked him up into the air, beginning the combo.

"U-Zu-Ma-Ki-"

The clones kicked Orochimaru up to the required height and Orochimaru looked down at the clones in interest. They smiled back up at him.

"We're not what you should be conerntraiting on."

Orochimaru looked around to see the real Naruto flying through the air and coliding with him head on in the gut, sending him flying back against the trunk of a tree.

"Naruto-"

Just as Orochimaru started recovering, he saw a set of shuriken fly past him with wires attached to them. Orochimaru noticed what they were.

"These are... Sharingan Controlled Triple Windmill Blades!"

They surrounded Orochimaru and Sasuke expertly controlled them to fasten his target to the trunk of the tree. Sasuke formed the seals for the final part of the combo.

"Ryuuka Rendan!"

The flamed gathered around Sasuke before flying towards Orochimaru. They plowed into him, burning his face and upper body. The flames were so powerful that they continued through the tree and out into the forest. They could all hear Orochimaru scream in agony. Eventually, Sasuke let up and breathed heavily as Naruto landed beside him. Sakura ran down and greeted them.

"Sasuke-Kun! Naruto! You did it!"

Sakura saw them both panting hard and she became concerned.

"Are you ok? Hang in there."

They were too busy to notice that Orochimaru hadfreed himself and had used Kanashibari no Jutsu on them freezing them in place. Orochimaru called to them from across the clearing.

"I'm surprised you can use the Sharingan so well at your age Sasuke-Kun. I'm also surprised at how well you can tap into the Kyubi's chakra reserves, Naruto-Kun. You both live up to your family names. I want you after all."

Orochimaru pulled his hand away from his head to reveal that he was actually wearing a Sound hitai-ate.

"Sasuke-Kun, you and Itachi are definitely brothers. Your eyes say that you carry more potential than Itachi. Naruto-Kun. You are definitely your father's son. You have the potential to surpass him."

Orochimaru pulled out their Heaven scrool and birnt it with a fire of green chakra.

"If you want to see me again, then get through this exam as if your life depended on it. That means you must defeat my three Sound Ninja subordinates."

Sakura decided to back chat him.

"What are you blabbering about? We never want to see your face again!"

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way."

Orochimaru formed a strange hand seal and his neck extended towards the group. First, it went for Sasuke and bit down on his neck. Once Orochimaru had delivered his toxic payload, he bit down on Naruto's neck leaving the same mark. He withdrew his neck back to normal size and watched as Sasuke and Naruto started screaming in agony and clutching their necks. Sakura turned to Orochimaru in horror.

"What did you do to them?"

"I gave them a little going away present. Sasuke-Kun and Naruto-Kun will seek me for power. It was fun being able to see a lot of your moves."

Orochimaru melted into the tree branch, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to scream and writhe in agony. Sakura had no idea what was going on. Sakura watched as both off them finally fell unconcious. Leaving Sakura alone to defend herself and her teammates.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Sakura awoke with a start when she realised she had been sleeping. She saw that both her teammates were stuggling with their unconcious battles. Sakura snapped her head up when she felt something running at her. She saw it was a squirril, smiling she watched the squirril run towards her. She became alert and threw a kunai at the squirril to stop it's advance.

_'That was far too close...'_

Unknown to her, the three from the Sound were watching this observantly from the scrub nearby.

"Oh? She's an observant one."

"She noticed the explosive tag?"

"No, that's not it..."

"Then what was it?"

"Let's find out now, shall we?"

With that, the three jumped out of the bushes and landed on the other side of the clearing from Sakura. Sakura recognised them as the team from the Sound.

"What do you three want?"

"We're hear to see Sasuke-Kun and Naruto-Kun. We want to fight them. Be a good girl and wake them up for us."

"How could you want to fight them? Some weird guy called Orochimaru bit them and put this weird bruise on their necks!."

They stared in shock at Sakura, but the tallest one cracked his knuckles.

"Well then, I'll just have to kill this girl and wait for them to wake up."

The other boy on their team held up his arm.

"Wait, Zaku."

"What's wrong, Dosu?"

Dosu walked forward and stopped at a patch of ground that would be no different to anyone who wasn't looking.

"A recently overturned stone, different coloured dirt... Grass doesn't grow here... This is obviously a booby trap, and a very poorly made one at that. Frankly, you have no skill as a Ninja."

"Pfft, how stupid."

"Since we have no use for this girl..."

Sakura readied herself.

"Kill her."

With that, the three sound nins jumped at Sakura, who just smirked and cut a wire string she had been sitting in front of. The three from the Sound looked up to see a gaint log attached to a rope crash through the canopy and right towards them. Dosu just smirked and put his hand on the log and shattered it.

"Pathetic. People like you should work harder before you mess with guys like us."

Sakura just sighed and waited for the end. However, one green spandex wearing ninja had seen this whole engagement and decided to intervine at that point in time.

"Konoha Senpuu!"

Lee smiled as he sent the three from the sound flying back before taking his personalised taijutsu fighting stance, with the squirril that the explose tag had been strapped to on his shoulder.

"Then you guys should aslo work harder..."

"Who are you?"

"I am Konoha's beautiful green beast, Rock Lee."

Sakura mummbled.

"Why... Are you here?"

"I will always appear when you are in trouble."

Lee put the squirril on the ground and watched it scamper off.

"Well... Thank you, you saved me."

"I said it before."

Sakura wondered what that meant.

"I would protect you until I die."

Lee smiled to himself for his small victory.

_'Yes! I'm awesome, Gai-Sensei!'_

Dosu was the first into action.

"I'll take care of them."

With that said, Dosu ran at Lee. Lee plunged his hand into the ground as Dosu lept into the air to try and gain the advantage of added weight to his attack gained by the momentum of falling. Lee pulled out one of the tree's roots to form a sheild for himself and Sakura.

"There's some sort of trick to your attacks, right? I'm not going to take them head on."

_'Even so, three on one is a severe disadvantage. I have no choice but to take all three out one at a time with full power.'_

Lee remembered the one strict condition he was supposed to abide by when using his signature technique.

_'To protect an important person!'_

With that, Lee dissapeared and reappeared underneith Dosu, kicking him under the chin, causing him to sail through the air. Lee once again dissapeared, and reappeared behind Dosu. Dosu's eyes widened in fear.

"This is then end!"

Lee wrapped his medical tape around Dosu and began spinning at an extreme rate before plummenting to the ground. Zaku knew he had to intervine or else Dosu was going to be six feet under. He formed a set of hand seals and plunged his hands into the ground, sending two raised tunnels of air filled dirt towards where Dosu was going to land, and the twin tunnels turned into a raised mound, just as Dosu was slammed into the ground at a terrifing speed.

"Omote Renge!"

Lee smirked while the Sound ninjas stared in awe. Dosu started to pull himself out of the mound. Lee was shocked at this.

"NANI!"

"What a truly terrifying technique. I landed on a sponge of dirt and air, and it still hurt like hell. However, it's my turn now."

Dosu ran at Lee, who was still recovering from the wracking pain of openeing the first Celestial Gate.

_'Damn it... I can't dodge...'_

Dosu aimed a punch at Lee's head, but Lee managed to block it. Or so he thought. His head started to swim.

"If your moves are at high speed, then ours are at the speed of sound. I'll show you a wall... That no amount of hard work can surpass..."

Lee lost his balance andfelt to the ground, throwing up.

"Lee-San!"

"Heh heh. You see, there's a little trick to my attacks. You can't just dodge them. Our attacks are made purely of sound. Even if you dodge my attack, sound will still reach you. Do you know what sound actually is?"

"Vibrations..."

"Exactly. Hearing sound means that your ear drum is catching the shaking of the air. And the human ear drum will break if it picks up any sounds in excess of 150 Mega Hertz. Deeper in the ear still, lies the semi-circular canals. If they are damaged you lose your balance. He he, you won't be able to move your body for a while."

"Hah! Lame old Taijutsu won't work against us. I have to say though, you were doing well enough to force me to use a jutsu. I can freely control super-sonic sound waves and air pressure to the extent that I can destroy rocks with ease. Blasting air into the dirt and creating a cushion is nothing. Our techniques are far superior to your stupid ones."

Dosu raised his right arm (god damn it, why does everyone have to be right handed! Yes, I'm a lefty) to reveal a device strapped to his forearm.

"Alright... Your turn!"

Sakura readied herself. Lee, on the other hand, had other ideas. He charged in and performed a half strength Konoha Senpuu. Dosu looked on in shock.

"Man, don't scare me like that! Heh, although you somehow managed to move, it seems you're at your limit. I'll finish you off now."

Dosu gave a sweeping right hook. Lee brought his hand up to block it. Dosu just smirked at this.

"This arm amplifies the small sounds produced to their ultimate level. You could say it's a speaker! However, the direction of the sound does not follow the arm, I use my chakra to make sure it reaches it's intended target."

The sound waves were indeed bending and aiming towards Lee's ear. When they hit the ear, Lee screamed and dropped to the ground. Dosu turned back to Sakura.

"Now, let's finish this."

Sakura suddenly got a burst of determination. She picked out some shuriken and kunai and threw them at Dosu.

"I won't let you!"

Dosu just sighed.

"Oh please..."

Unknown to them, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were watching from some nearby bushes. Choji was the first to speak.

"We should get out of here! They're too strong!"

"It seems like Naruto and Sasuke are knocked out and now it's just Sakura against those three. Even Lee's been defeated. What will you do?"

"What do you mean, what will I do?"

"Well, you and Sakura used to be good friends right?"

Ino took a little trip down memory lane to the time when Sakura had declared that they were rivals from now on.

_'Why am I remembering that?'_

"Hey Ino? What are we going to do?"

"What can we do? If we go out, we'll just be defeated!"

Sakura had just unleashed another wave of shuriken at Dosu. However, Zaku intercepted and blasted the shuriken back at Sakura, forcing her onto the ground. Just as Sakura was about to get back up, she felt someone appear behind her and yank on her hair. Sakura turned to see the female sound nin holding onto her hair.

"Much glossier than mine. If you have time to take care of your hair, then train some more you female swine."

"Zaku, kill Sasuke in front of her."

Sakura stiffened vissably at the mention of killing Sasuke. This did not go unnoticed by the female Sound Nin.

"Don't move."

Sakura began to cry.

"_I... I am still... Just getting in the way... Always being protected... I can't stand it... This time... This time I thought... That I have to protect those who are important to me...'_

Zaku began walking over to Sasuke.

"Now... Shall we?"

Sakura knew this was her last chance to prove herself to Team Seven. She pulled out a kunai.

"That won't work against me."

Sakura just gave the female ninja a cocky smirk.

"What are you talking about?"

With that, Sakura used the kunai to cut her hair, releasing her from held in place. This shocked everyone beond belief.

_'I always said I liked Sasuke-Kun. I used to always lecture Naruto... But all I ever did... Was watch your backs. Now, it's time for you two to watch my back!'_

Zaku snarled and turned to his female team mate.

"Kin! Kill her!"

Kin responded by stabbing Sakura in the back with a kunai, only to find Sakura had used Kawarimi no Jutsu. Sakura reappeared and began running at Zaku, a kunai in between each finger.

"Pathetic... Air pressure 100 percent... Sound waves 0 percent... BLAST!"

Sakura again used Kawarimi no Jutsu.

"You're fooling no one. You're above. Time to get serious!"

Zaku released a wave of kunai at Sakura and began looking around madly.

"Now, where did you go?"

Unfortunately for Zaku, Sakura had not used the replacement technique, and had taken the attack head on. Zaku realised this when Sakura was about two meters from him. He brought his arms up to block, and Sakura stabbed his right forearm with her kunai and bit down on his left forearm. Zaku growled and began punching Sakura in the head.

"Let go of me!"

Sakura held on in grim determination, which was making Zaku pissed off.

"I said let go of me, god damn it!"

Finally, Zaku managed to dislodge Sakura from his arm and prepared for an air cutter attack.

"You brat!"

Just as Zaku was powering up his technique, Ino's team had decided to take that moment to jump in. Sakura looked up at her saviours.

"Ino?"

"I said I'd never lose to you, Sakura. I already said that."

"Hmph. Seems some more wierdoes have crawled out of the woodwork."

Choji suddenly tried to scramble away.

"What are you two doing! We'll be killed! Shikamaru, let go of my skarf!"

"Yeah right idiot. It's troublesome, but since Ino jumped out, we as her team mates have to join her as well."

"Heh, you can run if you want... Fatty."

Choji suddenly stopped his flailing. He stoped dead. Ino and shikamaru looked on in interest. Choji said something in little more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry, I think you just said something, although I didn't quite hear it. Care to repeat it?"

Zaku looked at him in confusion.

"Eh?"

_'The word fat is taboo for choji. Say it twice and...'_

Gathering his composure again, Zaku repeated what he said.

"I said you can just go jack off in the woods, FATASS!"

Choji whirled around.

"I'M NOT A FATASS DAMN IT! I'M JUST CHUBBY! HORRAY FOR CHUBBIES!"

Zaku looked amused. Choju turned to his team mates with fire in his eyes that would make Lee turn even greener than he was already with envy.

"You two! You know this is a war between the leaf and the sound, right?"

Shikamaru let go of Choji's skarf.

"Man this is going to suck."

"That's our line."

Ino called out to Sakura over her shoulder.

"Sakura! Take care of Sasuke and Naruto!"

"Yeah..."

"Alright! Time for Ino Team's full power! Let's go! Choji, do your thing!"

"O K! Baika no Jutsu!"

Choji suddenly turned into a giant sphere with arms, legs and a head. He drew his appendages in, and began rolling twards Zaku.

"Ha! What kind of a technique is thus? It's just some fat ass rolling! Air Cutter!"

The stream of air seemed to stop Choji until Choji bounched into the air, attempting to land on top of Zaku and squash him. Dosu began running at Zaku to tackle him out of the way, however, Shikamaru wasn't going to have that.

"Oh no you don't! Ninpou, Kagemane no Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow shot out and touched Dosu's feet, stopping him in his tracks. Shikamaru made a strange gesture with his hands, which was mirrored by Dosu. Kin screamed at her team mate.

"Dosu, what the hell are you doing?"

"Ino, now there's just the girl."

"Mhm. Take care of my body, Shikamaru! Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Suddenly, Kin seized up and the howl of a wolf could be heard inside everyone's minds. Ino slumped to the ground, and Shikamaru caught her and leaned her up against a tree. Kin pulled out a kunai and heled it to her own thoat.

"This is it. If you guys move an inch, I'll kill this Kin girl."

However, the two other members of the Sound team were just snickering. Zaku raised his hand a let loose an air cutter on the Ino controlled Kin. Zaku smiled as he got up.

"You guys are confused. Our mission is not to get the scrolls or even to pass this exam. It's Sasuke-Kin."

Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu had drained all of his chakra. Sighing he released it.

"Oh? It looks like the limit for this jutsu is about five minutes. It also seems from the internal bleeding of your team mate, if we kill Kin, she'll die too."

Then, another voice came from above them.

"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Everyone looked up to see Lee's teammates standing up in the tree. Zaku was the first to reply, as per normal.

"It seems you guys keep crawling out like cockroaches. Why don't you come down here and fight us?"

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked at everyone before seeing Naruto and Sasuke. He looked surprised before smirking.

"That won't be necessary."

Everyone turned to see Naruto and Sasuke stand up. Sakura was initially relieved to see her team mates up.

"Sasuke-Kun! Naruto! You're-"

Everyone by now saw that they were surrounded by an immense wave of purple chakra. When the chakra died down, they gasped to see strange markings all over their bodies. Naruto stepped forward.

"Sakura, who did that to you?"

Sakura was more interested in what was happening to their bodies.

"Naruto... Your body..."

"It's fine Sakura. I feel great. Power is flowing through me. He gave it to us."

Sakura had no clue what Naruto was taking about. Sasuke filled her in.

"We understand now. I am an avenger, as is Naruto. We will gain power in any way we can, even if it means selling our souls to the devil."

Naruto turned to the Sound ninjas.

"So it was you who did this right?"

Zaku got some of his confidence back.

"No need to be afraid of these half dead freak, Dosu! Maximum Air Cutter!"

Zaku unleashed a major attack that cut a huge swathe through the area. Zaku panted before chuckling.

"I blew them to pieces."

"Who exactly are you talking about?"

Zaku looked behind him to see Naruto and Sasuke as they put barely any effort into slamming Zaku to the ground.

Naruto looked at Zaku and gave him a very sadistic smile.

"Let's go, Sasuke."

"Sure thing."

Sasuke used a Katon: Housenka, which Zaku extinguished with an Air Cutter. He realised far too late that the fireballs were actually protecting a shurkien each. These shuriken ripped into Zaku. Naruto and Sasuke took this time to body flicker behind him and each put a foot on his back while holding one of his arms.

"It seems you're pretty proud of these arms, eh? Would you like us to rip them off and beat you with them?"

"Please... Stop..."

Naruto and Sasuke paid no attention to his please and broke his arms, letting him fall to the ground in a screaming heap. Naruto and Sasuke turned slowly to look at Dosu, who cowered.

"Please tell us you are more fun to beat up than he was."

Dosu just stepped back, trying pitifully to escape them. Sakura couldn't take this anymore. These weren't the Naruto and Sasuke she knew. She charged at them and flung her arms around them, causing them to stop.

"Sasuke-Kun... Naruto... Please stop.

Slowly, their crused seals began to retreat back to the marks on their neck and they both collapsed onto the ground. Dosu sighed with relief.

"Naruto-Kun, Sasuke-Kun. We cannot beat you this time. I will leave our team's scroll here. It may seem convinent, but there is something we must find out. However, should we cross paths again during this exam, we will not run away."

Dosu put one of his teammates over each shoulder and turned to leave. Sakura stopped him.

"Wait! What did Orochimaru do to Sasuke-Kun and Naruto? Why to them?"

Dosu shook his head.

"I truthfully don't know. We were simply ordered to kill them. Orochimaru never mentioned anything about marking them."

Dosu jumped into the trees and disapeared, leaving the Konoha ninjas to sort things out. After they had dicussed things, they split off to go their separate ways.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** OH MY GOD! LONG ASS CHAPTER! I really am thankful to myself for typing the last part of the Forest of Death out in my previous fic. I saved... Let's see... 13 pages of typing. All I had to do was make a few minor adjustments. Apart from that, just copy & paste. Thanks to all my reviewers. Also, if you're wondering when Kyubi's going to come into the picture, soon. Just not yet. I'll probably introduce her during the month's training session between the prelims and the main matches. Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	4. Scooling Losers & A Warning to Everyone

**A/N:** If you've read my A Tail of Two Bijus fic, you may remember my 'ode to the flamer'. Seems we've picked up something worse this time. Read below:

**ATTENTION! WE HAVE AN IDIOT IN OUR PRESENCE:** One by the name of Bugged Fugger. You really think I'm an idiot because those quotes shaped my life? You completely idiodic fool. Did it ever occur to you that my life has been remarkably simmilar to Itachi's? Of course not, you're a fool who fits nicely into that corner of society called the sub human trash who I usually find to be completely blind to the way the world works.

**MAJORLY IMPORTANT NOTE:** People seem to be saying this story isn't as good as my others. I'll tell you now, this is intentional at this point in time. The major part of the story will take place after the time skip, but I have to get this out of the way, otherwise people will just say 'OMG, Naruto would NEVER DO THAT!' if I just started the story after the time skip. I have to do this, but once it's out of the way, I promise I'll put as much effort into it as I did with my first story, if not more. The reason I'm rushing it is because I REFUSE to have a pedophilic relationship in ANY of my stories, and a Kyubi mating with a 12 year old in my eyes would be considered pedophilic. My appologies to my readers, I promise you it will get better! Finally, it seems people are making a lot of very silly comments about 'flaws' in my story. Some people say that Naruto is way OOC, while others say that Sakura is getting left behind. Please people, try thinking what you put into your reviews before you submit them. From next chapter onwards, I am going to ignore people who make claims that my story isn't like the official one for whatever reason, because the point is it's not meant to be. The point of this story revolves around the 'what if' scenario, and not the 'what is' story that is the manga/anime. Also, I guess I should have just said this, but it's my fic, therefore what I say goes. If you guys can't appreciate the skill it takes to turn theoretical possiblilities into reality, then don't review. Hell, don't even read them. It doesn't take skill to come up with a 'what if' idea, as that's what humans were born to do. However, what does take skill is to turn that 'what if' into something with physical substance, in this case, a fic.

**I need your input on something people:**

Ever since I started writing this story, I've been considering rewriting the story so that Naruto is indeed the goody two shoes he normally is, but he will still hide the intelligence he has now. The pairing will still be NaruxFemKyu. I'm happy enough to do major renovations on this fic if that's what most of you want. I'm only partially writing for myself. The main reason is to provide you guys and girls with some entertainment. So, what'll it be? And for the love of god 'sorry to all religious people out there' don't say 'Keep going because it's too much effort for you'. Tell me what you really want. Contrary to popular belief, I'll only have to change several pages of writing. Some of those pages will have to be completely rewritten, while others will need slight modifications. No vote this time, I'm just going to take a rough gestimation, as I call it, to see what the general concensus is.


	5. Chunin Exams Part 2

**A/N:** Well, it seems I have to start splitting my responses to reviews into sections, now that I'm getting responses from MM. By the way, sorry to my fans of the Biju series, but I really want to develop this story to the point of the Sasuke retreval arc in the offical story. My mind is hounding me to write these ideas I have down, and any other story line I try to do will end up with major plot flaws. If you remember the author of the Conan books, he used to imagine that Conan would stand over him, threatening to kill him until he finished writing a whole book. I get that to a lesser extent. I've also tried to lighten the very angsty mood of the story so far this chapter. I hope it works.

One final thing: The picture of Kyubi in 'humaniod' form is NOT and I repeat NOT an EXACT physical representation. It's to give you the general idea of what she'll look like. I'll describe her perfectly when I first introduce her in her humanoid form. I was lucky enough to find a picture that had a fox with 8 tails instead of one. Seriously, what ever happened to people's immaginations? Eh, anyways...

Thanks to everyone who agrees with me. The man reason wasn't that there was a few negative reviews posted, it was with a group of people who enjoyed spamming my email with simmilar insults. Anywho, I'll get over the reveiws/comments/suggestions:

**F F Section:**

**Conceptor:** Well, in a few of the anime episodes and like one or two manga issues, you see the psychological effects of the seal. Basically, Orochimaru manages to somehow play up their strongest fears and goad them into seeking him for power. For example, with Sasuke, he sees a younger version of himself standing over his parent's bodies crying, claiming he didn't have enough power to stop Itachi. This messed with Sasuke's mind and set him on a path of self destruction, with no concern for anyone or anything, as long as he managed to kill Itachi. In my story, the same thing happened to him, however, for Naruto, he played back memories of the beatings he got on his first 5 or so birthdays, shwoing a younger version of himself sobbing, saying 'if I had more power... I wouldn't have been beaten and they would have recognised me' and such. In my fic, Naruto has hidden the fact that he still wants to be acnowledged by the adults as Naruto and not Kyubi, but Orochimaru managed to twist his memories to make Naruto believe that it was impossible. The Rookies and Team Gai didn't count, because they didn't know about Kyubi. Hopefully, that answers your question. And yes, thank god I did keep that scene. I've had Orochimaru hint at it, but at the moment, Naruto hates Yondaime for making his life a living hell. When Naruto finds out Yondaime is his father, going along with his personality, he'll hate him even more.

**Bleachum:** Yup, that's right, the pic shows a fox with only 8 tails. The reason why I uploaded it was to give everyone an idea of the overall figure of the Kyubi in human form. I was lucky enough that the pic I found had 8 tails and not 1. The point was to give you a GENERAL idea of it's looks, not exactly what it looked like, as I said many times throught this fic. And when you said Naruto and Sasuke seemed gay, did you mean like homosexually or just being idiots? If you meant the first one, then you should probably reread the fic. As for the OOCness, the entire IDEA of this story is OOCness. I've had enough complaints of this, and it seems that people don't understand the idea this fic is trying to get across. I'm not saying your an idiot or it's only you, but a number of people are COMPLETELY missing the point of this story. You were just the straw that broke the donkey's back, so to speak. Sorry for the rant, but it just gets annoying after a while.

**FlameChampion54:** The reason I'm rushing through it is that the main part of the story will be taking place after the two and a half year time skip. Do you seriously think I'm going to have Kyubi get sexually involved with a 12 year old? I have my standards, and a pedophilic relationship is not one of them. It will get better, that I can promise you, so please bare with it. Now that I think about it, I probably should have just started from after the time skip, huh? Then again, it would feel very alien, so I HAVE to get this out of the way.

**lenecromencien0145:** Thanks for the positive review. Trust me, Orochimaru would only mark people who would go to him for power with the Cursed Seal. That should tell you where this is going, right? However, I CAN tell you that unlike many other stories, Orochimaru will not rape Sasuke or Naruto, or anything of the sort. Also, I HATE the idea of Orochimaru using Sasuke as a container, so I'm going to do what I'm sure will happen in the official manga. I'm not going to tell you what that is, because I dislike giving away major plot points of my story.

**TrapedSoul:** What happened in the anime and Manga before Sasuke left? Naruto and Sasuke left her eating their dirt. Sakura will still be trained by Tsunade. She will still have her monsterous strength and healing capeabilities, until then, she will be weak, just like she is in the official story.

**cursed chaos kitsune Kyuusune:** Thanks for the review, at least someone can see that only two characters from the original story line really changed, namely Naruto and Sasuke. Hope you keep reading.

**Windsbane:** Thanks. Also, Naruto had a habit of doing that in the official story as well, so I carried that over to this fic. Good to see that someone understands what I'm making Naruto go through.

**Isumo 1489:** Thank you.

**Zaivon:** Well, in my eyes, Kyubi wouldn't pick a mate that was according to her, a 'soft hearted goody two shoes'. Naruto's personality suits her well. The reason she's chosing him is that he's not opposed to continuing the destruction of Konoha, although he hasn't specifically said in words that he would do it, he's hinted at it twice.

**Oblivion's Muse:** One particular paragraph last chapter said that Naruto didn't talk to the Kyubi after the incident because of what she made him do, and he only just started talking with her again.

**Kyuubi-Sama: **Uh huh. According to me, she looks more attractive like that than the other pics I've seen of her in a 'true' human form. I think a Kyubi with tails and the rest human looks weird, but this looks more believable. When I said she had a 'human' form, I meant she would only take on the main physical attributes of a human, ie standing upright, two legs, two arms, mostly human shapped form, etc. Thr fur and other animal features gives her a more 'untamed' look, which the Kyubi is.

**Touji-Kun:** What exactly did you mean by a Naruto like Sasuke story? Did you mean Naruto gets a Sasuke like personality or did you mean Naruto X Sasuke? I'm guessing it's the former one. If so, that's exactly what I'm aiming for with this fic.

**Dracowar:** Thanks, I tried to make this as original as possible.

**Inumaru-Kun:** I still don't get what you're getting at, unfortunately. I said that Naruto would NOT become Orochimaru's sexual plaything or the next container. If that's what you weren't talking about, then what exactly were you talking about? If you meant Orochimaru's subordinate, then he will, however, like Sasuke in the manga, Orochimaru will only useful for a certain amount of time. After that, who knows what will happen.

**Shadow Kitsune67:** Glad you like it. As for the long chapter, as a former leecher, I hated short chapters, so I decided when I became an author to make chapters no less than 4k words. Those kinds of chapters are usually the first and last chapter of the fic, the rest I try to maintain about 10k words each.

**Ashen Rose:** All I have to say is holy shit. That's one long ass review, and a damn good one at that. Now, I'll get onto your questions: As for the time skip, if people want this story to keep going as is, I will have both Sasuke and Naruto leave for Oto. Orochimaru is VERY selective as to who he puts the mark on now. The first 10 people were really just test subjects, from what I could work out. Snake man, as I like to call him, won't put the cursed seal on anyone who won't seek him for power. After all, what would the point be of giving someone a massive power boost if they're not going to 'thank' you for it, if you will? As for them returning, I highly doubt they will return for a while. They will use Orochimaru to gain power. Once they gain enough, who knows. As for the Kyubi having fur and ears, well, you looked at the picture, right? Man, shaving that much hair would be a royal pain in the ass. Ears? Yup, she'll have fox ears. She'll be able to switch between her 'demonic' form and her humanoid form at will. As for Sakura, she'll still be Tsunade's apprentice. Right now, I'm having a massive brain storm session on how I can get Naruto to convince her to come back without being OOC from Naruto's already OOC personality. I really hope that made sense... Being OOC from an OOC personality... Meh, anyways. As for the heartbroken thing, oh boy will she ever. I personally HATE Sakura. I really really do. She's such an upstuck bossy b1tch. So in this fic, she will SUFFER! MWAHAHAHAHAHA... Ahem... Excuse the breach of etticquite. There will still be the Sasuke retreival arc, but this time, it'll be the Sasuke and Naruto retreival arc. I think I'll make the rest of the Rookie 9 go, with Sakura and a few others, such as Hinata, Ino, Tenten and Shino facing off against Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End. They'll get to experience Naruto and Sasuke's 'true' powers so to speak. I specifically chose Sakura, Ino and Hinata because they all have crushes on them. When they see their true forms, I reckon they'd think twice before admitting their crush on them. Shino and Tenten will be there mainly as backup, because the three girls couldn't beat both of them by themselves, they'd be too scared to even move initially. As for the replacements, I have absolutely no idea. Sai will still be Sasuke's replacement, but I'll have to create an OC for Naruto. Man, those poems are beautiful. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to steal them _YOINK_ Seriously, they're great. I just read your stories. OMG, HAHAHAHAHA, they're great. Hope you keep reading, catch you round!

**Anntolas:** NarutoxTayuya pairing? She's that chick from the Sound Four, right? Jeez, that'd be one HELL of a challenge. I'm not even sure if I could pull it off... I'll see what I can do, however, it's at the back of my 'stories to write' list atm.

**Martrex:** How do I know? How do I put this... Basically there are two types of intelligence. Knowledge and emotional. I'm lucky I have a large amount of knowledge intelligence, but I also have an abhorrent amount of emotional intelligence, so says the experts. If someone has the amount of emotional intelligence I do or more, they can read people like books. Give me a person and let me speak a few choice words to them, and I can tell you a lot about them. BF's words were MORE than enough to dicern that he is an arrogant, snide fool who enjoys projecting his own emotional insecurities onto others in the form of 'bagging them out' or flaming. Trust me, I've seen a lot, and I've managed to categorise 99 percent of the human population into groups. He fits the one I term 'overconfident arrogant bastards'. So far, I have yet to be proven wrong in my 19 years of categorising people. It won't change now. Satisfied? If not, I'm not going to explain further.

**MM Section:**

**firelord:** No problem, glad you liked it.

Thank you to everyone else who supports my views!

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

"**_...Biju thoughts..."_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 3:

Chunin Exams Part 2:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Day Three of the Second Test:**

With their Heaven scroll burnt and in possession of the Oto team's Earth scroll, Team 7 went searching for a team they could get a replacement Heaven scroll from. Ever since Naruto had regained conciousness after the fight, he had attempted to contact Kyubi to find out what was happening to his body. Naruto became increasingly worried when Kyubi either refused to respond or was unable to respond to his questions. Finally, Naruto decided to see exactly what was wrong, and called a stop in a clearing next to the river. Naruto formed a quick hand seal Kyubi had taught him that allowed him to enter his mind and visit whenever he wanted. When Sakura saw Naruto slump to the ground unconcious, she became worried and rushed over to his side, but was held back by Sasuke, who shook his head. Sakura looked to Sasuke for an explination.

"He's fine, he's just checking his subconcious mind for any damages. He was taught that technique by a medical specialist when he was in the Wave."

Sakura nodded and watched Naruto, silently praying he would be ok. Meanwhile, when Naruto awoke, he was horrified at what he saw. The regular yellow sewer with yellow pipes was still there, however, there were a mass of pulsing purple pipes that outnumbered the yellow ones by three to one. Naruto strained his ears and just heard a growl from the cages direction. He ran to see what the problem was, twisting through the maze of corridors before emerging into the light, which faded to reveal the cage. Naruto noticed that Kyubi was panting from exersion.

"**So you finally turned up, eh kit?"**

"Kyubi... Why haven't you been responding to me?"

The kyubi lowered itself onto its haunches.

"**I have, but it seems you never received my replies. That cursed seal is disgusting. I'm sure you noticed those purple pipes on the way here?"**

Naruto nodded.

"**The corridors represent the major chakra paths, while the pipes represent the minor ones. That cursed seal has created completely new chakra paths that gourge themselves on the major ones, draining you of your chakra when you try to mold it and puts incredible strain on your cells. It seems that the people who don't have a large chakra reserve have all their chakra eaten during the initial stages and that causes the person's cells to self destruct from the strain. You have no idea how close you were to dying, even with my help. If this keeps up, you will never be able to use my chakra again, because all of it is devoted to keeping the cursed seal at bay and healing the wounds you get in combat and the wounds this seal is causing. Kit, here's a warning. Until you can find someone who can put an overlaying seal on it, do not use jutsus. The only way I can think that would give you an edge would be to directly convert your stamina into speed and strength, like that green spandex wearing freak does."**

Naruto nodded as he took Kyubi's advice in. He'd practiced stamina increased speed and power before several times. The speed and power it granted were unbeliveable, but it drained stamina at a horrifying rate, even for him, as Sasuke had deemed him 'the stamina fiend'. The most Naruto had managed was 25 minutes before he collapsed, and that was with Kyubi's help. Without it, he guessed he could last or so minutes before exaustion set in. Naruto broke his chain of thoughts and looked at the Kyubi.

"Hold on for another two days. I'll get Kakashi-Sensei to fix it."

"**Fine. Now get out of here, I hate being seen in this state."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"The only one seeing you like this is me, and I personally don't think any less of you for it."

The demon lord raised it's head and stared at the boy in disbelief

"**You don't think I'm weak now?"**

Naruto shook his head.

"No. I would take an inhuman amount of power to keep the cursed seal at bay and heal me at the same time. Now, I'm leaving before your head inflates and this room shrinks."

The Kyubi stared at the boy and laughed as he retreated back to the real world. Kyubi mused to itself.

"**He's not like the rest of those pieces of trash. Not by a long shot..."**

Naruto woke up to find that Sakura had started a fire, and Sasuke was brining back fish for them to cook and eat. Sasuke saw Naruto sit up and rub his eyes. Sasuke skewered the fish with a stick and put them against the fire to let them cook. He sat on the opposite side of the fire from Sakura, next to Naruto. Sasuke turned to his adopted brother with a look of concern on his face.

"What did you find?"

Naruto returned the serious gaze.

"If we use jutsus, I use it or you use your Sharingan, we're pretty much stuffed."

Sasuke nodded slowly.

"I had a feeling it would be something like that."

Naruto smiled.

"I did find out that we do have one thing going for us though."

Sasuke turned to Naruto with interest.

"What would that be?"

Naruto smiled sadistically.

"We may not be able to mold chakra, but we can still use stamina in it's raw form."

Sasuke had been training with Naruto during the stamina induced speed and strength training. Remembering this, he smiled.

"It's not all bad, I guess."

Naruto laughed half heartedly.

"Imagine the look on that green freak's face when he sees it."

Sasuke smirked.

"Priceless."

They both shared a chuckle as they pulled one of the fish off the fire, now that they were cooked and began eating. Sakura had no idea what they were talking about, but then again, she'd found out early they were able to make obscure references or hint at things that would leave anyone else with no clue, but the other would pick it up flawlessly and run with it. She'd gotten used to the fact that she was the odd one out of this group. She could tell, even if she refused to believe it, that they would both be content if they could get rid of her off the team. After they had finished with their fish, Naruto looked at Sasuke, who nodded. They turned to Sakura. Sasuke spoke for them.

"Sakura, we're both still hungry, so we're going to go catch another bunch of fish. Give me your canteen, we'll fill it up while we're there."

Sakura handed her canteen to Sasuke, and the two boys left to go to the river. However, they were only using the ruse they were still hungry to get away from her. It was true, but it still provided an excuse to talk privately. Once they immerged from the foliage, they sat at the river bank, talking about everything that had happened so far, while skewering any fish stupid enough to jump out of the water to a tree with a thrown kunai, which was apparently a lot of them. After what they deemed was as long as they could stay without making Sakura worried, Sasuke got up and filled the canteens with fresh water while Naruto retrived the fish. Once they finished, Naruto jumped over the river to land next to Sasuke with their kunai and fish. He sighed as they began walking back to camp.

"Sakura's a total nusance. It seems all she's good at is using that abnormally large brain of hers to answer theoretical questions and use the most basic skills in the most predictable manner."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. Naruto had only said his true feelings for his female teammate in Sasuke's presence when he was certain Sakura or anyone else was out of ear shot. Naruto had very bad experiences with giving his opinions to 'friends', as he found the next day, the person he had talked about conered him with a group of friends. If they were male, they'd beat him. If they were female, they'd cuss him out. He'd quickly learnt that Sasuke was the only person in the entire village he could really trust to keep secrets. Sasuke also felt the same way about Naruto. It was one of the core parts of their friendship. Everyone else was not to be trusted, because even after multiple chances, they all screwed up every time. They were brought back from their prospective memories when they saw thata ninja was standing in a very imposing position over Sakura. Both boys noticed it was Kabuto. They took an offensive stance and charged in, however, Kabuto stood up and smiled.

"No need to attack me, you two. I was actually stopping Sakura from opening the scroll."

They looked to see that Sakura was indeed beginning to open the scroll. Sasuke sighed and Naruto growled through clenched teeth.

"Can we really not leave you alone for 10 minutes without you getting into some sort of trouble?"

Sakura looked at Naruto and tried to appologise.

"I don't want to hear it. Give me the scroll."

Naruto took the scroll out of Sakura's hands with more force than was necessary. Naruto turned to Kabuto.

"Thanks for that Kabuto."

Kabuto smiled warmly at them.

"No problem."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"By the way, Kabuto, what are you doing here by yourself? Are your teammates nearby?"

Kabuto shook his head and explained what his team had planned.

"Originally, we planned to separate. I was charged with recovering the other scroll while my teammates would head to the tower. They would also grab a set of scrolls from other teams who came close incase I returned empty handed or without the scroll we needed."

Sasuke nodded. It was a decent plan, providing you could beat three other Genins by yourself. Kabuto smiled at them.

"Since I'm here, would I be able to ask you guys for escort to my teammates?"

Naruto smiled.

"What's in it for us?"

Kabuto rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I managed to get a second Heaven scroll before I found the Earth scroll we needed..."

Sasuke 'hmph'ed.

"Deal. Let's get going."

Kabuto led the way to the tower. However Naruto called for a stop. They looked at him expectantly. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them.

"Straight ahead is a large area surrounded by concealed chakra. It's very faint, but I can feel it. The only thing I can think of is an area Genjutsu."

Sasuke nodded.

"I felt something was wrong. That makes sense."

Kabuto looked at the tower before turning back to his escorts.

"You're right. The tower should be much larger by now, but the Genjutsu is warping it. We should go around it."

They nodded and shot off in a different direction, much to a group of Hidden Mist nin's chargrin. Within several hours of tree jumping, they had reached the base of the tower. Kabuto smiled and pulled out the Heaven scroll, handing it to them. They heard ruslting in the bushes next to them, and they tensed before Kabuto's teammates stepped out. They looked at the scroll Kabuto was giving Naruto and looked back at Kabuto. The one with the clear glasses frowned.

"Kabuto, what is the meaning of this?"

Kabuto smiled in his usual friendly way.

"Well, I happened to find an extra Heaven scroll before I found an Earth one, and as a trade for them escorting me here, I gave them the extra one."

The one with the black glasses nodded.

"That's fine. However, Sensei's expecting us. You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Naruto smiled.

"Thanks for your help Kabuto. We'll see you in the finals."

Kabuto smiled and waved at them.

"Take care."

With that, Kabtuo increased his walking pace and caught up to his team mates and they enetered a door of the tower. Team 7 took the one next to them, and took out the scrolls. Naruto handed one to Sasuke and they looked at each other, nodded and ripped the scrolls open. The main part of the written seal raised and smoke emitted from the lump. Sasuke knew exactly what this was.

"Naruto! These are summoning scrolls! Get rid of them!"

Naruto and Sasuke threw the scrolls on top of each other on the floor in front of them. The smoke increased in volume before it exploded into a cloud, revealing their Academy teacher when it cleared. Sakura was the only person who was happy to see him. To Naruto and Sasuke, he was just another person who couldn't be trusted. Iruka smiled at them, pulling a watch out of his pocket and opened it, checking the time. He sighed before snapping the watch's lid closed again and putting it back in his pocket.

"Congratulations on passing. I knew you could do it."

Naruto wanted to know why Iruka had appeared.

"Iruka-Sensei. Why were you summoned?"

Iruka smiled.

"Chunin's are required to meet every team that passes the second test. I was lucky enough to be chosen to give you the message."

Naruto nodded. Sasuke smirked, making everyone look at him.

"I see. Since these are summoning scrolls, what would you have planned to do if we had opened them before we got here?"

Iruka smiled and turned around to collect the scrolls.

"You're as sharp as ever, Sasuke."

Iruka picked up the scrolls, showing them to them.

"As you have guessed, this part of the exam tests your mission completion ability. So if you had broken the rules and opened them prematurely, we were ordered to knock out that team until the second exam ended."

Sasuke smirked again and looked at Sakura.

"Are you glad now that you didn't open it?"

Nartuo joined Sasuke's staring at Sakura who was sweating bullets, making a silent thank you to Kabuto. Sakura decided to try and get the attention taken away from her by pointing to the inscription on the wall.

"Oh! Sensei, what does that inscription on the wall mean? I've read it but I don't understand it!"

Iruka smiled, turning around and looking at it.

"That was the second half of my mission, to explain what that means. Read it. It's the principle Hokage-Sama wrote that you should keep in mind as a Chunin. Heaven in this text refers to the head of a person, and earth points to the body. If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. Say for example if your brain was your weak point, you should study and prepare for your missions. If you do not posess Earth, run through the fields and seak strength. So if your weakness is your stamina and strength, then you should train yourself every day. If you posses both, and dangerous missions will become safe. It can even become easy."

Sakura pointed to where the missing letter was on the inscription.

"Then what's that missing letter?"

Iruka smiled.

"It's the letter that symbolises a Chunin. The human letter that was in the Earth scroll goes there too." The survival mission you took part in these last five days tested the basic abilities of the examinees as a Chunin, and you guys completed it. A Chunin is a commander-class. He has a duty to lead his team. Deeply inscribe into your heart the importance of knowledge and strength in missions. Never forget that Chunin principal, and go onto the next step. That's all I was ordered to tell you."

Team Seven nodded in understanding. Iruka smiled and waved to them.

"I'll catch you guys later."

With that, Iruka poffed out of existance, leaving Team Seven to go to the central hall, where they found every other team that had passed was mulling around. They also noticed that all of the examiners, Jounins and even the Hokage was standing up the front of the room. Anko turned away from the circle of Jounins and faced the Genin. Her voice rang out from every corner of the room, indicating she was using a PA.

"Alright, line up in your teams, we have an announcement to make."

The Gennin's lined up. The Konoha ninjas saw that the entire Rookie 9, Team Gai and Kabuto's team, as had the Oto and Suna teams had made it. They turned back to Anko as she cleared her throat.

"First of all, congratulations on passing the second test. We will now have an explination on the third exam from Hokage-Sama. Everyone listen well."

The Hokage stepped forward, cleared his throat and began.

"The third exam will begin, however, before that, there is something that I want to make clear to all of you."

Several people in the room knew what was coming next. Kabuto's team were some of them. Naruto had a fair idea, but he kept his mouth shut.

"It's about the true purpose of the exam. Why we do a joint exam with the allied nations."

Naruto and Sasuke knew exactly where this was going now, but they still decided to shut up, mainly beause of the constant pain they got from their seals.

"'To maintain good relations with the allied nations', and to 'highten the level of the ninja'... Do not let those reasons deceive you. This 'exam' so to speak, is really... Just a replacement for war."

a lot of the Genin gasped. Tenten decided to question what this meant.

"What do you mean?"

"If we go back into the pages of history, the current allied nations now were infact bitter enemies, fighting for the right to rule. To avoid the massive waste of military power that is the result of war, they agreed to localise the fighting to one area. This was the beginning of the Chunin Selection Exams."

Ino still didn't understand.

"What? So this isn't for Chunin promotions?"

"This exam is indeed examine those who are worthy of the Chunin title. But on the other hand, it is also a place where ninja fight and carry their country's dignity. In the third exam, feudal lords and famous people from varying countires who may be potential clients are invited here as guests. Feudal lords from countries with hidden villages and ninja leaders will see your battles. If there is a significan difference in power, the strong country will be flooded with jobs. If a country is seen as weak, their jobs will decrease and at the same time, countries are able to show how their village has grown, and posses excellent millitary power to the adjacent countries. IN other words, they can put foreign pressure on them."

Kiba obviously still didn't get it, and proved it by questioning the Hokage further.

"So why do we have to fight with the risk of losing our lives?"

Naruto sighed mentally.

_'No wonder he doesn't get it. His dog has brains that rival his.'_

Naruto looked to the Hokage as he had a fair idea of what speech the Hokage would use to answer it.

"A county's power is the village's power. The village's power is the shinobi's power and a shinobi's tue power is only manifested in life-or-death situations."

_'How true that is...'_

Naruto knew if he managed to get this cursed seal at least supressed, and he was put into a life or death situation, he felt sorry for his opponent. He tuned back into the Hokage's speech.

"This exam is also a place to show off the ninja power of one's country. Since this is an exam where you fight with your lives on the line, it has a meaning, and your predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in the Chunin Exam because of it."

Apparently, no one had any more questions, however, Gaara was obviously impatient.

"I don't care. Tell us the details of this life-or-death exam."

The Hokage nodded.

"Then I will begin explaining the details of the third test, but-"

The Hokage was interrupted by a Jounin who body flickered in front of him.

"Excuse me, Hokage-Sama. I, Gekkou Hayate, the judge, will explain."

"Please do."

Gekkou slowly stood up, not turning to face them.

"It's nice to meet you, everyone. Everyone, before the third test, there's somethingI want you to do. Fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to progress to the main matches."

Most of the Genin started murmuring to each other. Sakura wanted a further explination.

"Sensei, I don't understand. Why can't we just progress to the main matches with the remaining examinees?"

Gekkou coughed again, and looked over them.

"It may have been that the exams were too easy this year, or you're all exceptional Genins, however, there are far too many of you left. The time of the feudal lords and other important people is precious, and we cannot afford to waste it with endless battles. Therefore, only 10 or less people are allowed to enter the main matches. Accroding to the Chunin Exam regulations, we are required to hold preliminaries to decrease it to a suitable number. We are also limited on time, so those who do not feel well and wish to quit, please raise your hand now. You can do so without hurting your team, as from now on, it will be one on one matches. The preliminaries will begin immediately. Would anyone like to quit?"

Sasuke and Naruto were steeling their determination to keep going when a particularly bad pulse from the seal went off, causing them both to unconciously grab their necks. Sakura noticed this.

"Sasuke-Kun... Naruto..."

Sasuke saw that he and Naruto were thinking the same thing. The time intervals between the pain spikes was getting shorter. Sakura saw where they were both clutching and guessed what the problem was.

"Sasuke-Kun, Naruto. You should both withdraw from the preliminary matches."

Both of their eyes widened at this. Sakura pressed on.

"Both of you have been acting weird since that Orochimaru guy beat you. Naruto, you're acting more like when you fought Zabuza and Haku. The bruises hurt even now, right? Please... Please stop. I'm afraid."

Anko, Ibiki and the Hokage began dicussing what they should do with the two. The suggestion of forcing them out of the matches and surrounding them with ANBU escort in isolation when Kakashi butted in.

"Neither of them are the sort that will listen to you that easily. They both have backgrounds that give them a stubbourn will to try their hardest, after all."

Anko got pissed off and started chewing Kakashi out for his lack of seriousness at the situation.

"Stop fooling around! I'll make them both quit, even if I have to use force! The cursed seal reacts when they try to mould chakra and it will try and extract power from them. It's a forbidden jutsu that undermines the affected person. It amazes me that they're both able to withstand it. A normal person would be dead."

Anko turned to the Hokage.

"Hokage-Sama!"

Sakura still hadn't let up trying to make them quit.

"Neither of you are in any condition to fight. You should just-"

Both of them turned to her, glaring at her despite the pain.

"Shut up."

"I knew it!"

Sasuke whispered to her.

"Just be quiet."

Sakura couldn't take the hint.

"You've both been baring this pain the whole time!"

Naruto tried in this time.

"Sakura, learn when to take a hint and shut it."

Sakura still didn't get it, and decided to go to the next level.

"Whatever you say, I'm still going to tell the teachers about it."

Sakura started raising her hand, but she stopped when she saw Kabuto had already raised his own. The Hokage looked at him.

"What is it?"

"I quit."

Everyone stared at him and Gekkou flipped through the clipboard's paper, stopping at a certain page.

"You're Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto, right? Ok, you can leave."

Kabuto turned around and walked through the lines towards the door. As he walked out the back of the group of Genin, Naruto stopped him.

"Kabuto, why are you quitting?"

Kabuto turned around and smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-Kun, but I'm exauhsted of chakra. I'd rather quit now while I'm still in one piece than face off against someone and be taken out of here on a stretcher."

Naruto sighed.

"Good luck next year, I guess..."

Kabuto nodded.

"Good luck to you too, Naruto-Kun."

Just then, both Sasuke and Naruto unconciously grabbed their necks from the pain spike. Gekkou turned back after having a short chat with a few of the other Jounins and the Hokage.

"Will anyone else be quitting?"

Sakura started raising her hand, however, both Naruto and Sasuke grabbed her hand and brought it back down. Sakura gasped, but Sasuke continued to glare at her, as if daring her to try and raise her hand again.

"Be quiet about this seal."

Sakura started tearing up again, but shook her head to clear the tears.

"Why are you both acting so tough? I don't want to see you suffer any more. I-"

Naruto wanted to butt in, but as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke had for more experience when it came to angsty speeches, so he let him continue.

"It doesn't matter to you Sakura. You're just being nosy."

Sasuke and Naruto dropped her hand, and she made no move to raise it again. Sakura looked at them questioningly, begging for a reason. Sasuke provided her with one.

"We told you before. We're both avengers. To us, this isn't just an exam. We don't care about being Chunin either."

Sasuke and Naruto both had a glazed expression covering their eyes, their faces showing they were deep in memory. Sasuke continued.

"Are we strong? That's all we want the answer to. Both of us are going to fight the strong ones and... Those strong guys are all here!"

Sasuke and Naruto broke out of their memories and glared at her. Sasuke finished off the speech.

"Neither of us will even allow you to take that away from us."

With a cough, Gekkou caught their attention. No one else made a move to quit, so Gekkou pointed to one of the panells on the back wall. Said panel slid up to reveal a display screen.

"Then, let's start the preliminaries. It will consist of one-on-one matches. In other words, it will be like real combat. Now that we have exactly 20 people, we will have 10 matches. The winners will be able to progress to the third test. There are no rules for engaging in combat and you will fight them until they die, are knocked out or admit defeat, however, if I decide the match is over, you will stop immediately. The electric bulletin board will choose two names at random from the participants. Without further ado, I will start the selection for the first match."

The screen flashed compeltely yellow before the names of the people flashed over the board's top and bottom half with incredible speed. Inbetween the names was a permanent VS symbol. The names stopped with a beep, revealing the first match was between Uchiha Sasuke and Akadou Yoroi. Naruto and Sasuke smiled. Neither of them had been expecting to get a go right off the bat, but it was a plesant suprise. Gekkou turned back to the Genins, coughing again, he motioned the two fighter forward. They walked out from their team lines and stood in front of everyone. As Sasuke past Naruto, Naruto smiled and whispered to him.

"Remember how we're going to fight."

"Like I could forget."

Sasuke kept walking forward and stared at Yoroi. Gekkou turned back to the other Genin.

"The others who will not participate in this match, please stand on the balconies along with your Jounin Senseis."

Kakashi walked purposely close to where both Sasuke and Naruto were standing.

"Neither of you use use chakra or your special abilities."

It was enough to know that Kakashi understood what had happened. Sasuke smiled.

"We've got it covered."

"Good. However, if the seal manifests during your fight, I will jump in to stop the fight."

Sasuke and Naruto stiffened. He wouldn't dare... Would he? Kakashi continued walking with Naruto and Sakura up to the balconies. Gekkou coughed.

"Are both fighter's ready?"

They nodded, and Gekkou raised his hand.

"Then the first match... Begin."

Yoroi's hand began glowing with chakra and he charged Sasuke, however, Sasuke smirked and dissapeared in extreme speed. This caught everyone's immediate attention. This was no normal speed. This kind of speed could only be gained in two ways. Years of harsh physical training, or pumping pure stamina into your muscles to increase speed and strength. Both options had their merits and disadvantages, but the disadvantages for the latter were far greater than the former. Not only would it eat at your stamina at an incredible rate, it would also put incredible strain on your body, equivalent to Lee's Secondary Lotus. The effects would take some time to begin showing, however, Sasuke had no intention of letting this fight get to that point. He appeared behind Yoroi and punched him in the small of the back, sending him flying. This had happened in less than a second since the match had started, and everyone was amazed. Sasuke pressed his advantage and charged again, leaving a trail of dust that had gathered on the floor behind him. Yoroi saw Sasuke coming and just managed to duck Sasuke's foot which would have connected with his head and ended the match immediately, however, Yoroi was now inside Sasuke's guard and pressed the advantage. Yoroi's hand glowed blue again and sprang upwards before shoving his hand onto Sasuke's head. Sasuke immediately could tell something was wrong as he felt his strength quickly leaving his body. Sasuke kicked Yoroi's mid section to get him off, and considered his next move. Yoroi laughed.

"So, you found out what my jutsu does?"

"Yeah, it's rather interesting. A stamina draining jutsu."

Yoroi chuckled.

"Exactly."

No further words were said as Yoroi charged at him, hand once again covered in chakra. Sasuke decided to take a page from Naruto's book and try a variation of one of his combos. Sasuke dissapeared and reappeared right underneath Yoroi, which cause him totally by suprise, throwing him off guard for a second. A single second was more than enough time for Sasuke to begin his move. Sasuke kicked Yoroi in the chin from his crouched position and jumped up to shadow his flight through the air. Sasuke had read about a particular part of a highly adaptive Taijutsu combo native to the leaf which interested him. It was called the Leaf Shadow Dance. The possiblilities of what to do from here were practically endless, providing you had the originality to do something new with it. So he decided to be original. Yoroi also apparently recognised the move.

"Leaf Shadow Dance?"

Sasuke had formed a new combo on the spur of the moment, and decided to try it.

"Yup. Form here on out, it's all original."

Sasuke poked two fingers into Yoroi's back to get a centre of gravity from which to rotate for his attacks. However, being the annoying bastard he is, Orochimaru decided to toy with Sasuke and activated the cursed seal. Sasuke coughed up blood as the examiners considered jumping in.

_'THE FUCK I'M GOING TO LOSE TO THIS THING!'_

With Sasuke's will power alone, he forced the cursed seal to withdraw, shocking more than a few people in the audience. Sasuke got his usual smirk back and put his fingers back in place.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."

Sasuke brought his right leg around in a sweeping strike, which Yoroi blocked with little effort.

"Not good enough!"

Kakashi and Naruto knew otherwise.

"No, you're not good enough."

To illistrate the point, Sasuke brought his left fist in another sweeping motion, much like a lion woul when it slashed at it's pray. This hit, Yoroi couldn't guard and it caught him full on the face, sending him plummeting to the ground.

"I'm not done yet!"

Sasuke landed another few sweeping strikes before he finished it off with an axe kick straight to Yoroi's mid section as he came into contact with the ground, essentially doubling the damage it would have done. Sasuke announced his combo to the croud.

"Shi Shi Rendan!" _'Lion Combo, for those of you who couldn't guess'_

Naruto smiled. He was absolutely flattered that Sasuke would take one of his oroginal moves and modify it so that to others it would look original, however, this was one of the subtle ways Sasuke would acknowledge Naruto in public, which made it all the more sweeter. Apparently, Rock Lee was getting ideas.

"That's my-"

Naruto cut him off.

"That move does not belong to you or anyone else. The first two moves are a very common part of a lot of Konoha Shinobi's Taijutsu styles because of the huge varaity of possiblities you can do with it. In fact, if he copied it off anyone, it was me."

Lee was shocked at Naruto's level of knowledge. What he had said was true, however, Lee had never met a person before who used it apart from himself and his Sensei. Said Sensei had a few words to say.

"Naruto-Kun! Your fires of youth burn brightly and are an example to us all! We should all take an example from Nartuo-Kun and bask in the springtime of youth!"

Gai turned to Naruto, hoping for some input, however, the input he got was exactly what he was hoping he didn't get.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

Gai's eyes widened in disbelief as he clutched his hands to his head. The room suddenly turned pitch black, and only Gai was surrounded in a blue spotlight.

"OH MY GOD!"

The room returned to normal brightness and everyonne in the room was staring at Gai. EVERYONE. Gai seemed to take no notice and turned to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, did you teach Naruto-Kun your annoyingly hip attitude?"

Kakashi was actually reading his copy of Icha Icha paradise, and looked up after this sentence.

"Did you say something, Gai?"

Gai facefaulted, but quickly recovered.

"It seems we now both have rivals, Lee! We must work harder to overcome our difficulties in these times of trial!"

"Gai-Sensei! Your words inspire us to live out our springtime of youth to the fullest!"

"Lee, your words bring a tear to your Sensei's aching heart!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

Everyone became awear of a constant rhythmical banging usually associated with bone hitting hollow metal, and turned to see both of Lee's teammates banging their heads against the railing in time with each shout of a name. Naruto was interested with this so he walked up to Tenten and tapped her on the back, causing he to startle out of her head banging trance.

"What are you doing?"

Tenten looked at him sadly and recounted her tale.

"We have to put up with this regularly, so both Neji and I tried to find ways to block it out. Even ear buds didn't work, but then I started hitting my head against something solid when they degraded to calling each other by their names. Suprisingly, the quick jolt of pain manages to block out their voices for the second it takes to call each other."

Naruto was laughing up a storm mentally. He saw that the heir to the branch family of the Hyuga was also doing this.

_'The Hyugas may be bastards, but not even I would subject them to this on a daily basis.'_

The fox seemed to agree for once.

_**'This is worse that anything I've heard of either Ibiki, Anko or Orochimaru doing combined...'**_

Just them, both Gai and Lee flung themselves into each other's arms and started crying rivers. Naruto started backing away cauciously, hoping not to set them off.

_'Holy shit... Do you know any sort of rare incurable disease that gives people bowl cuts, super brows, makes them wear green spandex and scream about 'hip' attitudes and the 'spring time of youth'?'_

Naruto heard a sigh in the back of his mind as the Kyubi began.

_**'I I ever had, I would make sure to destroy them and everyone they past the disease onto. Whatever it is, it's not natural. It's even scaring me, and that's saying something.'**_

Naruto was brought out of his inward conversation when a kunai came wizzing past his cheek and landed at the front of Lee and Gai. Everyone turned to Anko, who looked very peeved. She glared at them.

"Would you two both shut up? We're trying to get these fights over with!"

They both decided shut up as they noticed everyone was staring at them warily. Gekkou coughed to catch their attention, and pointed to the screen.

"We will now decide the next match."

The screen once again flashed and began scrolling through the names. The next match was unexpected. Uzumaki Naruto VS Inuzuka Kiba. By now, Sasuke had limped back up to the croud and joined his team. Naruto could tell that the pain intervals were becoming far too frequent for his liking, and Kakashi seemed to notice this.

"After your match, Naruto, both of you are coming with me so we can fix that problem."

They turned at him and glared.

"No point in glaring. If we leave it for much longer, it might do something irreversable."

Naruto sighed and jumped down, which caused a shudder to go through his body. Kiba had no idea if he was lucky or unlucky, and this showed on his face as uncertanty. Naruto took adavntage of this.

"You're lucky in a way. I can't use my chakra, therefore no jutsus. However, that leaves me with Taijutsu."

Gekkou coughed and brought his hand down inbetween them.

"Second match, begin."

Kiba bent down and formed a ram seal, saying his technique mentally. His claws started lengthening, and he sped off. Just as Kiba was about to strike, Naruto dissapeared just like Sasuke had. Kiba was no where near prepared for this and tried to compensate for the lack of a target on the end of his fist which threw his balance way off. Naruto took advantage of this and appeared behind him, kicking him in the mid back. Kiba stumbled and recived a series of lightning quick jabs and kicks from all directions. They weren't exactly powerful, however, they were fast and frequent, which more than made up for it. Akamaru decided to join the fray and Kiba took a chance to made a roll to the left towards his dog, which jumped onto his back and barked before Kiba announced his technique.

"Jujin Bunshin!"

Akamaru turned into an exact copy of Kiba and they charged at Naruto from different directions. They jumped into the air and began rotating, turning into something resembling a grey tornado.

"Gatsuuga!"

Orochimaru decided to intervine again and set of Naruto's cursed seal, freezing him from the pain. The Jounins once again prepared to jump in as they saw the marks spreading over Naruto's face. However Naruto started to grit his teeth, emitting a barely audiable growl, which quickly morphed into a howl of primal fury. The seal started retreating, just like it had with Sasuke and Naruto jumped out of the way at the last second, leaving Kiba and Akamaru to collide with each other before they had a chance to stop. Both of them were knocked out of their jutsu, and Akamaru's henge was even dispelled. Kiba slowly got up and took a step forwards, but Naruto used a lot of his quickly depleting energy to charge at Kiba, driving him into the nearby wall into near unconciousness. Naruto was panting heavily, and stared at Kiba.

"Use your jutsus with forethought, or they'll be used against you, baka."

Naruto wobbled and fell to the floor, only to be caught by Kakashi's shin. Naruto looked up at him.

"Come on, we're going to get you two fixed up."

Naruto nodded weakly and Kakashi 'poof'ed back up to the team's position and then 'poof'ed out of the room, leaving everyone else to watch the matches.

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**In Some Dark and Scary Back Room:**

Both boys where surrounded by a pair of concentric circles with kunai imbeded at certain points. Kakashi had just finished paintint the last of the Kanji in blood up Naruto's back. Both lines of Kanji centred around the cursed seals. Kakashi looked at his handiwork, nodded and stepped forward.

"This seal technique utilises your will powers as it's source. Should you ever doubt or question your strength, the seal will temporarily break and allow the curse seal to activate."

They both nodded in understanding as Kakashi formed a quick chain of hand seals and placed his hands on both boy's necks, which made them stiffen up.

"Fuuja Houin!"

The area flashed white and both boys screamed in agony as the lines of Kanji slowly worked their way up Naruto and Sasuke's bodies in wave like motions. Finally, the last of the Kanji dissapeared under Kakashi's hands and he let go to reveal another seal had surrounded the Cursed Seal. Both boys looked at him, then each other and fell forward, unconcious before they even hit the ground. Kakashi smied and he heard a sinister laugh behind him, and turned to see the sillouete of a man. The man steeped towards him so the small amount of light in the room revelealed his sandled feet, which were ghostly white. Kakashi could sense the absolute aura of death coming off him. There was no mistaking who this man was.

"You're... Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru emitted a little bit of purple chakra and stepped into the light to reveal that it was indeed him.

"It's been a while, Kakashi-Kun. I have no business with, you however, I have business with the boys behind you."

Kakashi straightened and glared at Orochimaru, not that it had any effect, but it would at least hide some of his fear.

"Why are you after them?"

"You're lucky because you got what you wanted already."

Kakashi stiffened and let out a muffled gasp.

"You didn't have THAT a long time ago."

Kakashi lowered his head slightly, trying to hide his anger. Orochimaru pressed his advantage.

"That... Sharingan in your left eye. I want it too. Uchiha's pwoers, that is."

"What is your purpose?"

"The recently made Villiage of Sound is mine. You understand if I just say that, right?"

Kakashi 'hmph'ed with confidence he didn't really have.

"What a stupid ambition."

"Oh my... That was blunt. But to acomplish my ambitions, I need pieces to become my arms and legs and accomplish things for me."

"So Sasuke and Naruto are two of those pieces?"

"No. They are the supreme pieces. The one's taking the exam right now are... Merely sacrifices."

Little did they know that one of said sacrifices was completing his role now, and had just had his arms blown off from the clogged pipes in his arms. In the back room, Orochimaru took several steps froward, before Kakashi readied the Raikiri.

"Don't get any closer to them! Even if you're one of the Ledgendary Sannin, I can sacrifice my life to kill you!"

Orochimaru just laughed at the gesture, which made Kakashi suspicious.

"What's so funny?"

"What you say and what you do, do not agree with each other."

"Nani?"

"There is no point using that seal. You know, right? They both have hearts that will seek power no matter how dark it is, as long as it will let them accomplish their goals. They posses that kind of disposition. They are avengers."

"So, you took advantage of that. But neither of them will-"

"Eventually, THEY will seek ME out."

Orochimaru began turning away and walking off, and Kakashi let the Raikiri die down.

"Seek me out for power, that is. Also... You said that you could kill me? Try. That is, if you can..."

Orochimaru sent off a large wave of killing intent to prove his point. Kakashi stiffened at this and began shivering as Orochimaru walked away.

"Sacrifice my life to kill him? Am I mad?"

Kakashi stood up and put both boys over his shoulders, taking them to the hospital. After the last rather antclimax battle of Chouji rolling around in his meat tak form, and Dosu from the hidden Sound punching the ball of flesh as it was stuck in a crater, causing Chouji to deflate and fall unconcious, the winners were called forward to pick a number out of the box Anko was holding. The last two numbers left were one and four. They gave Naruto one and Sasuke four. The match-ups were decided and the Hokage told them about the final test and that they had a month to train and rest before dismissing them.

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**A/N:** Another one down. You know, writing this story is somewhat of a paradox for me. I enjoy sujecting Naruto and Sasuke to what I would normally do in the situations they were given, however, ironically, it's also depressing for me. However, I feel the need to maintain the balance of Yin and Yang by making an angsty, brooding, depressing story for every light-hearted-goody-two-shoes story I make. I try and maintain my life around the pirnicpals of Yin and Yang and equivallent trade. I generally find life to be more satisfying that way. Anyways, thanks for all of your reviews. Sorry if I didn't answer each one individually, but I really only answer those who have questions or CONSTRUCTIVE criticsism. By now, at least the first 3 pages of every chaper are filled with A/N of me adressing people, so it takes up a lot of space that could be better used for story writing. I hope you can all understand this. For those of you who have questions that I don't answer in my chapters, I usually send a PM instead. Well, until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	6. Training Month & the Finals

**A/N:** Yo! I'm back after finishing my latest chapter of the Biju series. Ok, it seems once again, I overlooked some details. One, No one likes Naruto for who he is in this fic. Sarutobi, Iruka and the old man at the Ramen store just feel sorry for him. According to Naruto's personality in this fic, pity is worse than hating him. What does he have left in this village? Sasuke. Everyone treats Sasuke with respect, but only because of his family name and they feel sorry for him. The fan girls are pissing him off to no end. What does he have left in this village? Naruto. See where I'm going with this? Also, Jiraiya will still take on Naruto as his apprentice just for a bit because in this story, Jiraiya feels he's failed Arashi and let Naruto's mind rot, so he's trying a last ditch attempt to fix it. Also, I've discovered a major discrepancy between the anime and manga. In the manga, regualar chakra is YELLOW in colour, not blue like it is in the anime. How would I know? Check the issue where Jiraiya first talks to Naruto about Kyubi. Naruto says it himself. Just a reminder, this fic will only REALLY be concerntraiting on Naruto and Sasuke's parts of the story until after the time skip, which will be soon, possibly within the next 3 or 4 chapters. After the time skip, other people will come into play more prominent roles than they do now. ATM, I'm pretty much cutting all unnecesary things that don't relate to Naruto and Sasuke's actions. Please read the bottom A/N, as they contain a personal request to my reviewers. As a warning, anyone who repeatedly ignores the request will not have their reviews answered. It's not a huge request, mainly just an attempt to keep the AN of each chapter to a manageable size.

**OMG, GROSS:** I have an announcement to make. I officially hate the Naruto anime until the fillers end. The new ending song is absolutely atrocious. And do you know what they're portraying Lee to be doing next episode? He's finally turned to the dark side and become a homosexual. Target? Naruto. That's what I could gleen from the trailer. There's not much else that someone asking someone to 'be their first' could mean without having homosexual intentions. I really don't want to download the next episode. Can someone download it for me, and tell me if Lee really does mean... You know? If he doesn't, which I have a sinking suspicion he won't, please tell me ONLY that he's not homosexual, not the story line of the episode. Thanks!

Also, this chapter will feature Naruto learning the Rasengan and the basics of Hiraishin before the finals. Want to cry saying 'Naruto could never learn that much in that much time'? Don't. In the anime/manga Naruto learnt the first stage of Rasengan in less than 72 hours. And he had no clue what he was supposed to be doing until 30 or so seconds before he completed it, which means he did it first try once he knew. The second stage took him 8 days to learn when he also had no clue until the last try. The last part took him 7 to 9 days, it's uncertain as to the exact amount, but it's somewhere inbetween that. Once again, once he understood how to do it, he did it first try. Technically, I could have him learn it in three goes, one of each step, if he was a super genius of Itachi's level and it'd still be logically sound. Rasengan isn't actually that tough a jutsu if you think about it. I'm not that cruddy though, so he will learn the Rasengan in 6 days. Don't like it? Then you can't accept logic. Hell, if you don't like it, don't even read! Simple! As for Hiraishin, he'll learn the basics of it, such as the concept and also what the special kunais are made of and how to make them, but he won't understand how to execute it for a while, probably several years. It maight actually take less time, but by the time he makes his first appearance after the time skip, he'll have learnt it, with some slight modifications to suit him. He won't be able to do it in time for the finals though, as I'm not going to have Naruto suddenly turn into an unbeatable powerhouse before he even faces Itachi and Kisame. Now that's out of the way, time for the comments/suggestions/reviews:

**Kyuubi-Sama:** Hmmm? Want to know? If you use your imagination, I'm sure you could guess. Everyone who has a lvl 2 cursed seal turns them more into what they appear to be or what their moves involve. Jibouro is a huge guy who uses power, and his form bulks up his muscles and makes him lose fat, which none of the others do. Kidoumaru gains a third eye, making him get closer to the number of eyes a spider has, Tayuya summons demons, and so she grows horns, Sakon is a duel headed, duel bodied parasitic sadistic bastard, and he manifests into a demon like form, Kimimaro, a self labled monster, grows a tail and extrudes bones everywhere, Sasuke is willing to sell his soul to satan, so he grows huge demonic wings. Care to have a guess as to what Naruto's going to look like? If you can't, then you'll just have to wait and see:P

**Conceptor:** Well, the Sand/Sound invasion is going ahead as planned, but it will still be cut short for the same reason it was in the official story. After all, wouldn't be much fun if the second Sasuke got there, Orochimaru takes over his body, would it? Also, like in my Bijus story, I'm NOT going to have Naruto learn to summon frogs. Frogs and Naruto REALLY don't go togther in this story, after all, they could snitch on Naruto when Jiraiya summons them after he does. Foxes it shall be. The way Naruto will sign the contract will be a little different to my last story, and slightly less believable, but it's the only way I can think of to get Naruto to sign the damn thing. Basically, they'll both fight Gaara as per usual, but when Gaara goes full Tanuki form, Kyubi will drag Naruto down and demand he sign the contract, more to save her own hide than his. During this chapter, Naruto will learn the Rasengan instead of the summoning technique during the training.

**MasterSprtn117:** Well, if you really want to know, it's probably because a group of us don't like Yaoi. Also, female vixens in human forms have a reputation for being... Very seductive, to say the least, even outside the Naruto-verse. Chuck the fact that she's queen of the demons into the mix, and you got yourself one hell of a temptress. No need to explain further.

**firareth3:** I've sent your answer via PM.

**Dragon Noir:** The first part of your answer is at the top of this chapter. As for the pair going to Ocochimaru for power, I might have them start with him, ditch him and go on to learn from others. You know, come to think of it, each village is relatively weak. They concerntraite on only one type of elemental jutsu, while Nukenins can learn them all. Nukenins also aren't forced to conform to their own villages social and fighting standards. Hyugas and Uchihas are forced to learn their family Taijutsu styles. Both are very effective, but they both have huge weknesses. What better way to create the ultimate taijutsu style than to fine the best parts from a wide range of them and work for several years to blend them into your own style, which no one can counter? This is why I belive Nukenins are so strong. The 'pain' of being alone really does help you develop true strength, it would seem. Naruto's not an exception to this rule. He relys on a beings power that would rather kill itself than fight for another, but since it's stuck in Naruto's stomach, it doesn't have much of a choice than to help the boy. About the Kyubi holding back the seal, what would you say if the Kyubi didn't want to? After all, it helps turn him into a REAL monster, and frightens the shit out of people, which is what she wants to do. In essence, she's living her life through Naruto, training him to be able to finish the job she couldn't. The only thing about the seal she's going to stop is it erroding his free will. But your idea is a suitable one in theory, however, finding a believable way of turing it into reality will be tough. Very tough. No one's been able to fix the cursed seal before. But then again, from what I can work out, they're not even trying. Anko doesn't even have an evil sealing method on her cursed seal. Kyubi's no medical expert, but I'll see what I can get her to come up with. I'll let you in on a secret. Kyubi's secretly modifying his growth to turn him into her ide of a perfect 'mate'. Cursed Seal lvl 2's going to help as well. And for the love of kami, don't use that jutsu again. It's too cute...

**Dragoon Knight:** Um... Let me check... _'checks description'_. Sure seems it. As explained last chapter, I REFUSE to have an underage relationship in any of my fics. You'll just have to wait until after where the manga time skip would be for the real action to start.

**Chibi Strawberry:** Go FemKyuxNaru! Best pairing out there besides FemDemon Container OC x Naruto! Anywho, glad you like it.

**Ashen Rose:** Ah, if it isn't my new favorite reviewer! Well, if you think they're scary, you should check out the nartuofan forums and check out the blackgai fan club. As the name suggests, its a well... African/American Gai. Not that I'm saying I'm racist, not by a long shot, I'm just saying that I'm used to the Gai from the Anime/Manga. When you look at the picture, you expect caucasian skin, but then you see very dark coloured skin, and you're eyes do a quick retake. It's really just a guy cosplaying. Hats off to him though, but the number of people in the fan club is quite startling. Next question: Well, take a guess as to what Hinata did against Neji's ultimate jutsu, the boring monologue of doom. _'Thanks to the fan club for the name, I've done a tribute in this chapter to you!'_ She quit before the fight started. The other matches were the same result as they were in the Manga/Anime. I don't think either of them will want to go back to the Leaf after they leave. Killing Itachi will be very close to the end of this story. Basically, Naruto and Sasuke's life goals are this: 1: Get power from anyone they can. 2: Kill Orochimaru. 3: Kill Akasuki. There's a possible final one, which is to get rid of Konoha, but that will depend on Konoha's reaction to them leaving. Should Konoha leave them alone, they'll leave the leaf alone. They constantly pester them, they'll eventually destroy it. This decision I'll leave up to you guys in a vote, which will be up shortly. Well, why didn't they send any other Chunin or Jounin in the anime/manga? Konoha's shinobi resources were stretched thin, and that was the best they could do. I'm going to have Kakashi back them up, which is what'll make them use their Cursed Seal forms. The girls and Shino could never manage that, but Kakashi is a different story. As for Naruto's match with Gaara, it's coming next chapter. Naruto will still change Gaara's view on life, but it'll be subtly different to the way it was done in the manga. I had a HELL of a time figuring out how to do that, but I think it works. Find out next chapter. No, Naruto wasn't there. Shikamaru stopped him long enough to get Gai's attention like during the real anime/manga. He broke up the fight. Jiraiya? Well, he'll probably go back to the normal things, but he'll probably give up writing perverted novels because his guilt from not being able to stop Naruto weighs on his mind. Rasengan Naruto learns this chapter.

**Dobe-Teme:** Well, as answered in Ashen Rose's reply, yeah, Hinata gave up before it started. As for beating the shit out of Neji, hell yes. I've made Naruto convey my own theory, which gave him all the fuel he needed.

**wolv youkai:** I'm not sure. The only reason I think Orochimaru has done one seal at a time is because there's never been two people to mark at once. I'll do a bit of research into it and see if you're right.

To all the others: Thanks for the reviews!

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Biju thoughts...'_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 4:

Training Month & the Finals:

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**A Few Days Later, Outside a Heavily Guarded Hospital Room:**

Naruto and Sasuke had been placed in the same room under heavy guard. Kabuto had broken in once, but had been foiled by Kakashi, although the sneeky sound nin had actually escaped. Kakashi had no idea what to do. He knew he should train them, but both at once would be a serious handful. Sasuke's sytle suited his own, plus having a set of Sharingan helped. He decided there was only one man who could help Naruto, and Kakashi had overheard two very angry woman saying a man of simmilar discription to the man in Kakashi's mind had been spotted peeking into the local women's hotsprings, just the sort of thing this man was known to do. Kakashi planned a clever ruse ask Ebisu to teach Naruto the water walking exercise at the hotsprings, claiming Naruto hadn't leant it yet, which was very easily believable. He hopped that Naruto's real teacher would be there to take over, although he would have loved to see the initial exchange between them. Taking Sasuke from his bed the moment the Uchiha woke up, they dissapeared for a month, with no word from either of them. When Naruto woke up, he saw a note from Kakashi saying he'd taken Sasuke to train, and that he'd found him an even better teacher than he could be, explaining that he would be here shortly after he alerted the hospital staff he was awake. Naruto sighed, pressed the buzzer and saw a very angry looking nurse storm in, just managing to keep herself from asking what the 'demon' wanted. Naruto stared cooly at her, betraying no emotions.

"Where is he?"

The nurse had no clue what he was talking about, but decided he must be talking about Sasuke.

"Uchiha-San was-"

"I don't mean Sasuke, I mean my new 'Sesnei'."

The nurse really had no clue what the boy was on about when the door opened, revealing the Tokubetsu Jounin, Ebisu. Naruto sighed.

_'How the hell could Kakashi possibly think this closet pervert is way better than him?'_

_**'I can tell you right now he's not. His power levels are way below Kakashi's.'**_

_'Think Kakashi's got a trick up his sleave?'_

_**'Possibly, kit.'**_

Naruto got out of bed, finding he was still in his clothes. He stared at Ebisu.

"Let's get moving.I don't know what Kakashi-Sensei couldn't teach me that you could, but I want to see."

Ebisu was used to this kind of rudeness from Konohamaru, but coming from the demon, it was unacceptable.

"You will address me as Ebisu-Sensei-"

"I'll address you by that title if you actually manage to teach me something I don't already know. If you can't, you're not really a teacher, are you?"

Ebisu hated to admit it, but the boy had a point. You couldn't really call someone a teacher if they didn't teach you something you didn't know. Luckily, Ebisu was confident.

"Very well. Let's go to the hot springs."

Once they arrived there, Ebisu walked towards the hotspring.

"We're going to learn water walking."

Naruto facefaulted, but got up and started leaving. Ebisu was puzzled.

"Were are you going, Naruto? Don't you want to get stronger?"

"I won't be fooling around with you. I already know water walking."

"Prove it."

Naruto stopped. He really hated when people underestimated him, so he stormed back, and continued storming onto the water, much to Ebisu's dismay.

"Happy now?"

Naruto picked up a faint giggling noise from his left. He turned to see a white haired old man giggling as he looked through a hole that led to the women's baths. Naruto saw his opportunity to get rid of his arrogant 'teacher'. Naruto pointed.

"That old man is commiting a shameless act! Stop him!"

Naturally, Ebisu took the bait. He ran at the man, screaming about people commiting shamelsss acts in his presense. The old man turned around and summoned a frog. Naruto became interested in this. The frog smacked Ebisu with it's tongue, knocking the man out cold. Naruto knew he was weak, but this was a joke. Naruto looked up at the man in interest. Suddnely, something clicked.

_'White hair... Perverted... Frogs...'_

"Jiraiya?"

The man looked at the kid who was staring at him oddly. He smiled.

"That's me! Let me introduce myself!"

Jiraiya struck a dramatic pose, and started his long winded speech on how he falls for no women's feinie whiles, and that he was the legendary sennin of some mountain or other. By the time Jiraiya, had finished, he saw the boy was asleep. Jiraiya sweat dropped. He smacked the boy on the head, waking up with a start. Naruto looked around in mock grogginess.

"Huh? What time is it?"

"How much of that did you hear?"

Naruto looked at him, rubbing his eyes for effect.

"Up to the part where you said your name."

Jiraiya face faulted. He'd heard absolutely nothing of it. Jiraiya sighed and turned his back to go.

"I'm off. Be a good kid and take him to the hospital."

"I'm not doing anything for him."

Jiraiya stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Why not?"

"Because he's just like the rest of the damn villagers. He thinks I'm nothing more than a piece of trash."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto with full interest now.

"Why is that?"

"Why do you care? If I told you, you'd just act like the rest of them."

"Try me."

Naruto sighed. He knew this guy had a deep connection to Yondaime, so he went for it, hoping Jiraiya would be different than the rest.

"Yondaime sealed the Kyubi in me when I was born. The entire village needed something to take their anger out on, and they chose me. Almost all of them hate me, and a few pity me. However, only one actually accepts me. Frankly, I would have been happier if Yondaime let Kyubi finish the village off."

Jiraiya was shocked to say the least. He had his suspicions, but what Naruto had just said confirmed it. What the hell had Sarutobi been doing? Naruto turned to leave.

"Naruto! Where are you going?"

"Why does it matter to you? If you have to know, I'm going to train."

Jiraiya sighed. He decided he might as well go for it.

"What if I take over your training? I can teach you some cool jutsus."

Naruto stopped and his ears perked at the word jutsu. Jiraiya smiled as Naruto turned around.

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

Jiraiya smiled and he hopped onto the roof.

"Take him to the hospital and then meet me near the waterfall several kilometres south of here!"

Jiraiya jumpled from building to building and the frog that had been sitting there the whole time poofed out of existance. Naruto dragged Ebisu unceremoniously to the hospital's front door and left him there before charging back to the meeting spot. Jiraiya was there as promised, peeking through some bushes giggling. Naruto walked up and stood over him, casting a shadow over Jiraiya's note book, causing him too look up to see Naruto standing over him. Jiraiya smiled uneasily and got up, leading Naruto over to the creek. Jiraiya looked at him.

"Have you ever used Kyubi's chakra before?"

Naruto suddenly shuddered.

"Yes."

Jiraiya wanted to get an understanding of what happened so as to teach Naruto this jutsu the best way possible.

"What happened."

Naruto looked sullen and put his head to the side.

"I... Don't want to talk about it..."

Jiraiya sighed, pushing for an answer.

"Come on, I need to know if I want to teach you this jutsu."

"I... Commited a massacre..."

This was not the answer he was expecting. Not by a long shot. It also didn't answer Jiraiya's question he had meant to ask, so he had to keep pushing.

"What did it feel like when you release the chakra? Describe everything. Leave out the bits of your actions, just describe what it felt like."

"I felt so bloodthirsty... I also had no control over my actions or senses. I can't put the feeling into words..."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Were you experiencing any extreme emotions at the time you release it?"

"Yeah... I thought my brother had just died. He's the only one important to me. When I lost him, I didn't care what happened, I just wanted them dead. So I let Kyubi take over my body. When I regained control..."

"Ok, I get the idea. Well, it seems that for a transformation, you need to be experiencing extreme emotions, however, I think it's still possible to draw on Kyubi's chakra without being taken over."

"I know, but I don't like doing it. I only do it if I have to."

Jiraiya nodded, standing up.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you the Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

"No thanks, I don't want to have anything to do with frogs."

"But frogs are great! I mean, they're-"

"I'm sure they are. It's just what they symbolise that makes me want to have nothing to do with them."

Jiraiya sighed. He had one idea left, but he doubted the boy could learn it in a month.

"What about this then?"

Jiraiya formed a spiraling ball of chakra on his left hand. Naruto recognised it immediately.

"Rasengan..."

Naruto thought over the pros and cons of learning the jutsu. The villagers would be severely pissed off that one of their almighty Yondaime's trademark justus had been past onto the 'demon boy', but it would come in handy for his goals in life. Naruto nodded.

"Sound's good."

Jiraiya sat back down.

"We'll need some training materials. Get me a small number of water ballons."

Naruto nodded and headed into town again, finally finding a place that would let him buy the damn things, even if it was at 3 times the normal price. It was a small price to pay for learning a powerful jutsu. Naruto returned with the water ballons. Jiraiya filled one up with water from the river and held it in his palm.

"Naruto, you remember when I showed you the full Rasengan right?"

Naruto nodded.

"What did you see?"

Naruto thought about it.

"You initially condensed a huge amount of chakra into a single point, and then let it radiate out, while pumping more into it. It got faster and faster the longer you held it."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Exactly. This jutsu has to be learnt in three stages. The first stage is rotation. Watch."

Naruto watched as a large number of points on the surface of the water balloon poked outwards before the balloon burst, spraying water everywhere. Jiraiya smiled.

"Do you want an explination of the principals, or do you want to just try?"

Naruto had a fairly good idea of what Jiraiya did to make the balloon pop. He should be able to get it by the end of the day.

"I'll just try it."

Jiraiya smirked, before filling another balloon with water and tossing it to Naruto. Jiraiya looked at Naruto confidently.

"That jutsu took three years for the Yondaime to create and master."

Naruto looked back, nonplus.

"It takes far less time to learn something already known than it does to be the first one to find it out through experimentation."

Jiraiya conceeded the point to Naruto. Even he had learnt it in a fortnight. Jiraiya left Naruto to try various methods of getting the balloon to pop, with guidance from the Kyubi. By about three in the afternoon, Naruto was getting damn close. Spinning chakra in many differing directions was not something ninjas did often, if at all. Finally, Naruto managed to eas another spin into it and the balloon finally broke from the stress, water flying everywhere. Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who was still peeking at the girls bathing at the waterfall. Naruto growled, picking up a water balloon, filling it with water before holding it over Jiraiya's head, careful not to let his shadow show. Naruto rotated his chakra throught the water and the balloon poped all over Jiraiya, who spluttered and looked to see Naruto staring at him.

"First stage complete."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**2 Days Later, Back at the Waterfall:**

Jiraiya had told Naruto to go home, collecting a bunch of rubber balls for training the next day. Naruto had returned with a bagfull from the same store. Again, the woman charged tripple price. Naruto made sure to get her back later with a prank or something, but for now, he needed to train. Once he arrived, he found Jiraiya actually meditating, and not peeking. Jiraiya opened his eyes as he saw Naruto approach. Jiraiya made a 'pass it to me' motion with his hand, so Naruto threw a rubber ball at him. Jiraiya held the ball out in front of him.

"First step was rotation. Second is power. You have to make this ball pop like this."

The ball started morphing hideously before exploding, releasing swirls of chakra. Jiraiya continued his explination.

"This step is harder than the first, because there's no water, meaning that you can't feel your chakra as well as you could in the first step. Give it a try."

Naruto picked up a ball began applying the knowledge of the first step. Practically nothing happened. Naruto expereimented like this for 2 days before he finally came up with an answer.

_'Oh. My. God. How could I have not realised this earlier? I have to compress a huge amount of chakra to a single point and then release it.'_

Naruto held the rubber ball and began trying to focus the chakra to a single point. However, keeping the point exactly the same down to the milimetre was hard, to say the least. Naruto sighed.

_'I need a marker of some sort...'_

Naruto realised he had none, and Jiraiya only used a pencil for his notes, and so thought about what he could do. Kyubi came to the rescue.

_**'I can put a mark on your hand. It'll hurt a bit, but it'll be permanent.'**_

_'Don't have much of an option right now. Go for it.'_

Naruto was aware of his hand tingling. The tingling became a burning sensation, which Naruto barely managed to contain himself from howling in agony from. Smoke came off his hand, indicating that indeed it HAD been burnt. Naruto looked at his hand to see what the mark looked like. Much to his chargrin, it was a simplifed fox's head.

_'That's not funny.'_

_**'Deal with it, Kit.'**_

Naruto sighed and picked the ball up again. The Kyubi seemed to have thought Naruto had forgiven it for the massacre, and was getting back to it's more boisterous self. In hindsight, burning the imprint on had indeed been a good idea. He could still feel the pain slightly, which also gave him an internal indication of where to gather the chakra. Naruto began pumping chakra into the fox's head on his hand, which he could have sworn glowed blue and began pumping as much chakra into it as possible. The ball morhped hideously before it exploded, sending dirt and small pebbles flying. Jiraiya looked up at this, smiling.

_'Your son's a genius just like you, Arashi.'_

Naruto smiled at his handy work when he heard the 'clip clopping' of Jiraiya's footwear on the rocks undeneath him. Naruto smirked confidently at his new Sensei.

"At this rate, I'll have the Rasengan mastered in another three days."

Jiraiya luaghed.

"The last stage is far more difficult than the other two combined. I'll tell you what. I'll make you a bet."

Naruto liked bets. He never lost.

"Go on."

"If you master the Rasengan by 6 pm three days from now, I'll teach you the basics of one of the most powerful jutsus Yondaime invented."

"If I lose?"

Jiraiya turned his back and prodded his index fingers together, getting a nosebleed.

"You have to walk around in your Sexy no Jutsu form with me for an entire day."

Naruto face faulted. The stakes were high indeed. Naruto was starting to seriously regret using his specialised henge to get Jiraiya's attention yesterday. However, Naruto had never lost a bet, and he wasn't going to start now.

"You're on, Ero-Sennin."

They shook hands to seal the deal and Naruto was getting impatient.

"What do I need for the final stage?"

"A hell of a lot of regualr water balloons. No water this time."

Naruto nodded and pulled one out of his pockets he had left fro the first step and gave it to Jiraiya. Jiraiya took it, blowing it up and then sealing it.

"Watch carefully."

Jiraiya held up the balloon. Nothing happened before Naruto understood.

"You're... You're doing the complete Rasengan in there..."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Exactly. The aim is to add the rotation from the first step and power from the second, combining them into the final form. You have to maintain a thin layer of air between the edge of the Rasengan and the inside edge of the balloon. Good luck, you'll need it."

_**'We'll see about that, you perverted freak.'**_

_'For once, I agree with you.'_

Naruto immediately ran back to the village, getting a huge punch of balloons. This time, the lady charged him quadripple the price. Naruto was really going to make her pay for that when he got the time, putting the thoughts for a prank out of his mind for the moment and decided to use the rest of the afternoon to train. Going to a little used section of forest near his house, Naruto began practicing, failing every time. However, he was determined to get it right and continued training till the early hours of the morning.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Just Before 6pm, Three Days Later at the Waterfall:**

Jiraiya looked at his watch. The kid had two more tries left before the deadline. Jiraiya was already thinking of fun things to do with a cute naked girl following him around when he saw Naruto try again. Naruto was close to gettingit, there was no doubt about it, however, he hadn't made the tiny final discovery that would ensure mastery of the Rasengan. Jiraiya wasn't surprised when the balloon burst, sending chakra everywhere. Naruto looked at Jiraiya for the time, and saw him holing up a single finger.

_'One more try...'_

_**'Make it count.'**_

_'Thanks for the moral support, furball.'_

'Furball' said nothing, as Naruto suddenly had an idea. It was his last hope, but he had nothing better to go on, so he prepared. He decided to try it without the balloon this time, much to Jiraiya's interest. Naruto started forming the Rasengan, imagining the balloon still surrounding it. Naruto talked himself through his mantra.

_'Focus...And... Retain.'_

Naruto had decided to sync his focus and retain cycle to his breathing. Focus the chakra with the breath in, retain it with the breath out. Jiraiya watched amazed that not even a single bit of chakra escaped the Rasengan. Jiraiya timed it, letting it go on for thirty seconds to make sure.

"Alright Naruto, you win."

Naruto drove the Rasengan into the nearest tree, keeping his focus long enough to put a 'flag' of sorts to mark his victory on the tree. Jiraiya smiled.

"Well done. First thing's first, tomorrow, you're going to get out of that tacky orange jupsuit and get some decent clothing."

"Do you even know why I wear it?"

"It makes you look like a target."

"Exactly."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. Had this kid gotten a screw lose or something?

"How is that a good thing?"

"The point is, I wear this to stand out. People think I'm stupid because I wear bright clothing. They usually find out that I'm smarter than they are when they find the orange clad blonde standing in front of them with a kunai in their stomach."

Jiraiya had to admit, it was a clever stratergy. However, he was not letting up.

"I don't care. Keep a little of the orange if you want, but change your clothes. The design looks like something those green spandex wearing freaks would design."

That settled it. Naruto was NOT wearing anything that could possibly be designed by those disease ridden wierdos. He still wanted to keep some orange to maintain his 'Look at me! Look at me! I'm a bimbo!' appeearance, but he would change it.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Naruto immediately went clothes shopping. To save time, he used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to scout all the stores, hoping that one store would let him in. Not suprisingly, it was the same store he got his old clothes from. The Naruto clone looked through the store's clothing racks, and eventually found a jumper and pants set. The jumper had a small, neck hugging black turtle neck collar with the top ¼ of the jumper being black. The bottom half was orange, as were the pants._ 'If you still can't imagine it, think Naruto's clothes after the time skip' _Naruto bought two sets and paid the regular price for them. He left the store with his clothes, quickly going to his appartment and getting changed, before running to meet Jiraiya at the usual place. When he got there Jiraiya gave him the 'once over' and sighed. The boy could have gotten worse, but it was acceptable. Jiraiya got off the tree he was leaning against and pulled out a kunai. It wasn't just a regular kunai, it had three points and an orange tag wrapped around the handle. Jiraiya held it up to Naruto for inspection.

"Recognise this?"

Naruto shook his head so Jiraiya began explaining.

"This is the kunai that allowed the Yondaime to use Hiraishi no Jutsu. Do you know the principal behind the jutsu?"

"No, that was a very closely guarded secret."

"True. Well, Hiraishin is a mixture between two types of jutsus. You know what Hiraishin did, so take a guess as to how it could be done."

Naruto thought about it for a while.

"Obviously, it requires a high rate of movement... So it may involve something like body flicker... However, the only faster way to move than body flicker would be to-"

It hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. Hiraishin was essentially a Kuchiyose no Jutsu crossed with the Shushin no Jutsu. Yondaime was able to summon himself. This must have showed as Jiraiya was startled to no end that Naruto had been able to figure out what no one else had without being directly told with a tidbit of information.

"How the hell do you summon yourself?"

Jiraiya looked thoughtful. It was hard to explain without telling the secret of how to do it, not that it would have mattered to anyone else, but with Naruto, there was a distinct possibility he would be able to do it. Even Jiraiya couldn't do it.

"Well, how do you normally summon something?"

"By sacrificing some blood, forming the hand seals and pumping chakra into it."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Take a good look at this kunai."

Jiriya passed it to Naruto, who caught it deftly and began examining it. Now, Naruto considered himself his year's expert on seals with obvious reasons, but this was way out of his league. He'd never seen a seal so intricate. He looked back up to Jiraiya for an explination.

"As you said, to summon, you need to sacrifice some blood, form the hand seals and use chakra. What if you could somehow premake a seal that already had all of those in it?"

Naruto agreed, although it would be insanly dificult, it was theoretically possible. Relooking over the seal, he noticed that the seal centered around three very distinct parts. The Kanji for 'blood', 'seal' and 'chakra'. What really surprised Naruto was that there was also several kanji surrounding each one that represented things usually associated with summoning contracts. In essense, this seal was like a summoning contract, the signature of the person who signed it and the method for summoning all in one. This seal was in one word, incredible. Naruto wasn't surprised that no one had been able to copy the jutsu. Jiraiya looked at Naruto, seeing that he was appreciating the true way this jutsu worked. However, for each person who could even perform it, the seals would have to be altered dramatically for it to be useable. Jiraiya smirked, catching Naruto's attention.

"Arashi had once mused that successfully changing the seal so another family member could use it could be the equivalent of the Uchiha right of passage into manhood by learning the Goukakyuu no jutsu for his family."

"That jutsu is nothing compared to this..."

"That's Arashi for you."

Naruto looked over it a final time before pocketing it and stood up.

"Does the kunai itself have anything to do with the seal?"

Jiraiya shrugged.

"Arashi never told me. He said that the kunais were made of a special alloy of two metals, aluminium and titanium, for strength and also to lighten the weight. He told me that there was no 'secret ingredient' in the kunais themselves, but I'm not sure if the shape of it has anything to do with the kunai's abilities."

Naruto nodded as he shoved the information to the back of his mind for later processing and focused on the next thing.

"So, got any other cool jutsus?"

Jiraiya sweat dropped.

"I've taught you enough for now. Go train yourself. I'd suggest trying better to harness the Kyubi's power for when you need it. Later, Naruto!"

With that, Jiraiya 'poof'ed somewhere else, leaving Naruto to his own devices. Naruto decided to take the super pervert's advice and try harnasing Kyubi's power WITHOUT going on a killing spree.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**3 Weeks Later, at the Stadium:**

The feudal lords, head ninja and other important guests had all arrived and the last of them were taking their seats, anxious for the matches to start. The only participants that weren't there were Naruto and Sasuke. The examiner _'Does anyone actually know the guy's name? The guy always chewing on the senbon?'_ took stock of the 6 Genin in front of him. Shikamaru had a question.

"Oi, what happens if Naruto and Sasuke don't make it in time?"

"They'll be disqualified."

"How troublesome..."

Shikamaru suddenly became aware of a human shaped shadow hanging over him. He turned to look at the shadow. It led towards the stadium wall and dissapeared, meaning that whatever the shadow belonged to was standing on top of the stadium wall. Shikamaru looked up, covering his eyes from the sun to see the sillouette of a figure. The figure had spikey hair, and struck a confident pose. The figure flickered out of existance, and reappeared in between Shikamaru and Neji, who had conviniently left a space for him. They all looked at him warily, to which he paid no notice. He was more interested in the crowd. Naruto turned to Shikamaru.

"Yo, Shikamaru, who am I fighting?"

"Me."

Naruto turned to see a very confident Neji.

_'Perfect, just perfect. Now I get to humiliate him and the entire Hyuga clan in front of the world.'_

The Examiner turned his head to them.

"Oi, you three. Look at the crowd. You're the main stars for this play, so look the part."

They looked back to see that every single set of eyes had been focused on them. The examiner turned to them.

"Take a good look at this."

He held out a piece of folded paper which he deftly unfolded with a single finger. It was the tournament bracket. Everyone but Naruto seemed very interested, why, Naruto had no idea.

"There's been a change in the match ups. Check again to see who you're going against."

They did so. Naruto saw that he faced Neji, then the winner of Sasuke and Gaara's match. He had it tough. Beating Neji shouldn't prove excruciatingly difficult, but it was the next match that worried him to no end. Kyubi had almost instantly picked up that Gaara was the container for Shukaku when Naruto first saw him. Naruto was drawn back to reality as the examiner folded the piece of paper and put it into his jacket.

"Although the terrain is different, the rules will be the same as the preliminaries. One-on-one, no rules. I will stop the match if one of you become unable to continue, give up or die. First match is Uzumaki Naruto VS Hyuga Neji. Everyone else, please go back up to the waiting room."

Gaara led the way, and everyone else followed. Finally, just Naruto and Neji were left. They stood opposite each other, Neji looking smugly confident, as one would when victory is assured. Naruto scowled at Neji.

"It looks like you want to say something."

"You can't win."

Neji smiled and activated his Byakugan.

_'His eyes tell me he is totally confident in himself. He is not hesitant at all.'_

"This will make it all the sweeter when you realise the true reality, I will enjoy seeing..."

Neji became accutely aware of snoring coming from Naruto's direction. Nejo looked to see Naruto feining sleep while standing up. It was a fairly convincing act, too. When Naruto heard Neji had stopped, he looked up at Neji.

"So, have you finished your clan's ultimate jutsu yet?"

Neji raised an eyebrow, clearly not following the blonde's train of thought. Naruto explained.

"From what I've been able to work out, the Hyuga seem to enjoy talking their opponents to death. I'd say they've perfected it into the clan's ultimate jutsu. The boring monolouge of doom no jutsu."

Neji's eyes twitched at the insult, however, he lowered himself into his Jyuuken fighting pose. The examiner announced the first match.

"Then, the first match... Begin!"

No one said anything. No one moved a muscle. They didn't even breathe. One breath might shatter the moment. Naruto decided to start things off by throwing a trio of kunai at Neji, who deftly blocked them. However, while Neji's concerntraiton was on the kunai, Naruto body flickered directly behind Neji and aimed a punch at the back of his head. Neji blocked it with ease, before turning around and continued dodging Naruto's attacks. Just as Neji got inside Naruto's guard, aiming for a shoulder strike to close a major tenketsu, Naruto body flickered back to roughly where he had started. Naruto looked at Neji with feigned interest.

"Now you see, you have no chance-"

"Neji, do you ever learn? This fight isn't over until you're laying on the ground, not being able to move a muscle, and believe me, that's the way this fight is going to end up. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The entire arena was filled with solid Naruto clones. Everyone in the crowd was shocked. This Genin had used a Jounin level jutsu better than most Jounin's who could use it could? This kid was full of suprises. Each clone pulled out a kunai and readied themselves. Neji had to come back with a smart answer.

"But there is only one real one."

The naruto clones smirked.

"GOOL LUCK FINDING IT, TEME!"

"Come if you wish."

"WITH PLEASURE!"

The clones moved as a mass and surrounded Neji, exchanging blows with the lavender eyed boy. Neji quickly dipatched a large group of the clones, before he charged for one in particular, giving it a vicious attack to the heart. The clones started poofing out of existance. Neji looked at the one he had stabbed and smirked.

"The more the clones attacked, the more one stood out. You feared your tenketsu being attacked, so you stayed back. You're the real one."

The Naruto on the end of the stab managed a sigh.

"Again, the Hyuga's 'all-powerful' Byakugan fails."

The 'real' Naruto poofed out of existance, revealing it was a clone. Neji flintched at the fact that his flawless analytical skills had been so easily manipulated. He noticed from his near 360 degree vision a single Naruto figure attacking.

"You'll have to do way better than that, Hyuga!"

The punch connected with Neji's face, or so people thought. Naruo immediately noticed what was happening and body flickered away as Neji did his family's signature absolute defense. Naruto reappeared behind Neji.

"Interesting. That move is supposed to only be taught to Hyuga head family successors. I doubt they'd teach it to you, just because you're the 'genius' of the Hyuga clan. Meaning you worked it out for yourself. Show me, what else have you figured out?"

Neji prepared for his next jutsu.

"You are within range of my Divination: Jyuukenpo: Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!"

Neji charged at Naruto, who did nothing. Naruto was secretly liking where this was going. Although it would hurt, it'd let him get to the point he wanted this fight to go.

"Nijshou!"

"Yonshou!"

"Hashou!"

"Juurokushou!"

"Sanjuunishou!"

"Rokujuuyonshou!"

Naruto flew back with the hint of a smile on his face. Naruto landed on his stomach and started laughing weakly, causing Neji to look at him.

"What a scary jutsu. However, would you like to see one that's even more scary?"

"You can't. You don't have any chakra."

"No normal chakra, no. However, I have a backup supply."

Naruto slowly struggled to get to his feet. Neji watched amazed as he did. Naruto breathed heavily and stared at Neji coldly.

"However, before I show it to you, I want to ask you something on behalf of the Hyugas."

Neji looked interested.

"What would that be?"

"What have you as a clan actually done for Konoha? And don't give me that crap about gracing us with your presence."

Neji thought about it. What shocked him the most was that without something along the lines of what Naruto had said, he couldn't think of anything. For the first time in Neji's life, he had nothing to say. He drew a big. Fat. Blank. Nothing. The Hyuga's had essentially done nothing for Konoha. Neji looked at Naruto with a rather disturbed look on his face, which made Naruto smile.

"Now, let's go over all the problems you've caused us. First, you've segrigated yourself from society. Second, you almost restarted the war between the leaf and the cloud. And finally, the most disgusting thing of all: You stayed in your manor when the Kyubi attacked."

Everyone was completely wrapped in Naruto's accusations of Konoha's most powerful family. Neji was about to bite back, when Naruto painfully held up a hand.

"Hear me out. Have you ever been to the war memorial for those who fell at the hands of Kyubi? If you have, you'll notice something. There is not one single name from either the Hyuga or Uchiha clans on it. The Uchiha, however had a valid excuse. They were the city's police force, and thus were completely taken up with evacuating the village civillians to safety. The Hyuga had no such excuse. I don't care how 'elite' your clan is, it's impossible to go up against the lord of the demons and not lose a single life, especially considering your fighting style. The only reason your clan is as powerful as it is today is that it lost no one to the Kyubi. And for some reason, your twisted minds think that's some sort of reason to become as arrogant as you have. You Hyugas are an eyesore. However, I'm willing to let you relive the situation on a watered down scale. Let's see how you would have faired."

Naruto imediately closed his eyes.

_'Can you try to manifest the chakra into something recogniseable?'_

_**'Easy.'**_

Naruto formed a ram seal and began a low growl as he bent his knees. Chakra started leaking out of Naruto. However, this chakra was not blue. It was red. Blood red. Naruto's growl turned into a roar as the chakra filled his system, flooding him with power. Neji was trying to understand what the hell this was when the chakra made it's first manifestation. Neji and anyone else who had Byakugan could see that the chakra inside Naruto's body had formed a monster's head. The chakra wrapping around Naruto began manifesting in a visable way for everyone else to see. First, a tendril grew out of Naruto's tailbone. The tendril thickened and lengthened, before being quickly joined by 8 more. The chakra tails whipped wildly in the air while Naruto looked at Neji very smugly.

"Can you see them?"

Neji flinched, which Naruto took as a yes.

"Then let's step it up a notch."

Naruto put his hands out to his sides and closed his eyes as the chakra tails wrapped themselves around him and finally reentered his body. Nothing happened for a moment, until chakra started seeping up from the ground, surrounding Naruto in a barrier of chakra that looked suprisingly like a flame flickering in the wind. _'Like it did when Naruto fought Neji in the main matches in the anime/manga.'_ Naruto had one final request to his tenant before the battle started.

_'Could you try manifesting the tails as well? They were cool.'_

_**'You're still a kit in some ways... Fine.'**_

Naruto growled once more as the chakra tails returned, while he was still maintaining the aura. Naruto decided to drop to all fours for effect. He could tell Neji was scared beyond words so Naruto decided to rub it in a bit more.

"Neji, this is only a chosen manifestation of the chakra. If I wanted, I could pull out a hell of a lot more. But for this match, this will do. Let's go."

Naruto bounded towards Neji with incredible speed, tails flicking everywhere as he went. Neji just managed to dodge the swipe as Naruto body flickered out of the way of Neji's return strike. Neji looked through his almost 360 degree vision for any sign of the blonde, and saw him out of the corner of his vision racing along the stadium wall. When Neji turned to look at him, Naruto jumped off the wall and straight at Neji, launching three shuriken at the Hyuga. Neji used a Kaiten to block them and pick them up as they fell to the ground, adding three of his own, hurling all six of them at Naruto with a warcry. Naruto made no effort to dodge, and simply swiped each one away with a different tail, much to Neji's dismay. Naruto was about to reach Neji when he body flickered directly behind him and aimed another punch to his head. Neji just avoided it by jumping sidewards and pulling out a kunai, which Naruto mirrored. They both threw the kunai at each other. The kunai hit in the middle, and they both jumped into the air, catching their kunai and jumping at each other, trading a mid air blow before coming to a rest. Neji looked up at Naruto as he began speaking.

"You're... Confident about close combat right?"

Naruto held out his right hand and everyone was shocked as the Kyubi's chakra began forming a sphere on his hand. They were even more shocked at the noise it made. Few people recognised the jutsu. The Hokage had the most vocal reaction.

"That's Yondaime's..."

Naruto smiled as the jutsu completed and charged forward at Neji in a blind charge, jutsu at the ready. Naruto smiled and said just loud enough for Neji to hear.

"Kyubi: 1. Hyuga: 0."

Neji started the Kaiten and got it working just in time for the Rasengan to connect with it. Naruto called out his jutsu as he shoved it at Neji.

"Rasengan!"

There was a blinding flash of light and a massive explosion that covered the entire stadium. Everyone was gasping at the sheer force of the explosion as it settled down. Once the dust settled, they saw Naruto and Neji both in craters, not moving. Neji was the first to stirr, as he slowly got up and wobbled over to Naruto's form.

"The Hyuga's would have indeed-"

Neji was cut off when Naruto appeared from a hole in the ground behind him and kicked him straight into the ground, finishing of Neji's sentence for him.

"Lost."

Naruto picked up Neji and hurled him at the side of the arena, slamming him into the wall, leaving Neji to slide down and collapse on the ground. Naruto walked up to him.

"Where's all your bravado now, Hyuga? Face it. Your clan is weak. They have nothing to be prowd of, yet they are. I'm finished with you. Examiner, this match is over."

The examiner looked over Neji, and confirmed that this match was indeed over.

"Hyuga Neji is unable to continue. Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto dispelled the chakra and stood, glaring at his fallen opponenet. As Naruto expected, he got nothing. No claps, no cheers. He smiled silently to himself as he returned to the visitors box, where everyone was staring at him in some form of fear. Except Gaara. Naruto looked at Gaara and smiled evilly.

"I look forward to fighting you. That is, assuming you can beat my brother."

Gaara stiffened, barely controling his bloodlust. Unfortunately, Sasuke had not shown up yet. After a quick word to the Hokage, the examiner looked at the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, one of the contestants has not arrived yet. Therefore, we will be putting his match last."

This was met with a chorus of boos and groans. The examiner looked at the contestants box.

"Next match is between Kankuro and Shino. Both of you, get down here."

Kankuro stiffened and called over the railing.

"Examiner! I forefit!"

The crowd was now on the verge of causing a riot. The female from the sand trio brought out her fan and created a small gust of wind before riding her fan down to the stadium floor. Once she was there, she exchanged a few words with the examiner before he looked back up at the examiners.

"The other guy, get down here. Nara Shikamaru, that's you."

Shikamaru was mumbling to himself about 'fighting women' and 'troublesome' when Naruto picked him up and hurled him into the stadium.

"Get it over with, Shikamaru, you lazy ass!"

Shikamaru hit the ground and stayed there. After a while, people started shouting, throwing things at the boy. Temari growled and charged him.

"If you're not going to attack, then I will!"

"Oi! We haven't started the match yet!"

Temari ignored the examiner and slammed the closed fan into the ground. Much to her dismay, Shikamaru wasn't there anymore. He was standing on top of two kunais he had driven into the wall nearby.

"This is troublesome, but I have to do it."

Temari unleashed a whirlwind at him at point blank range, devistating part of the wall. Shikamaru had naturally gone, causing Temari to smirk.

"You're good at running away, aren't you?"

Temari released whirlwind after whirlwind at the trees, slashing them. After a few moments, Temari noticed a shadow heading straight for her. She jumped back, scoring the earth with her fan, marking where it got to it's furthest. Both of them analysed the situation. Shikamaru assumed his 'thinking' pose. After about five minutes, he put one hand in his ninja pouch, retrieving a kunai. Temari smirked.

"Looks like your a bit more determined now."

Teamri snapped open her fan and let lose another storm of chakra infused air. This one lasted for quite some time, as evident by how many packets of chips Chouji had gone through since the gust was unleashed. Temari let it die down, with no sign of the lazy pinapple haired boy.

"How much longer are you going to keep running?"

She let loose a short, sharp gust, which kicked up a large amount of dust. The dust cleared around one particualr part, revealing a kunai coming straight at her. She dodged it, blocking another one with her fan and she saw the shadow coming for her again. She smirked and stood there. She realised almost too late that the shadow would pass the line, so she jumped back, the shadow barely missing her foot.

"Good insight."

"So you were killing time, waiting for the sun to set and increase the wall's shadow line to increase the surface area of your own shadow. When the sun starts to set, shadows grow. Right?"

"Yup."

What Temari failed to notice was the second phase of Shikamaru's plan was about to be set into motion. Kankuro saved her.

"Temari! Above you!"

Temari looked up to see Shikamaru's jacket and forehead protector acting as a parachute for a kunai. Temari looked back down to see the contraption's shadow was about to expand enough to catch Shikamaru's shadow in it, thereby extending it's shadow further. She jumped back, dodging the extended shadow tendril, until she came to a rest in between the holes in the stadium ground caused by Naruto. The shadow stopped just short of her, and she slammed her open fan into the ground, giving her some cover. She started forming some seals for a Bunshin when she lost control of her body. She gasped and Shikamaru smirked.

"Kagemane no Jutsu finally succeded. I'll show you what's behind you."

Shikamaru turned his head for Temari, who mirrored the movement. Behind her, his shadow had indeed captured her, but not in the way she had expected. He had used Naruto's hole to extend his shadow to catch her from behind. Shikamaru walked towards her, which made her walk towards him. They met, and raised their hands. Everyone was waiting with baited breath, before something unexpected happened.

"I give up."

Everyone still held their breath, but for an entirely different reason. They were trying to understand those three words. People quickly broke out into shouting and booing, not even hearing the explination Shikamaru was giving Temari. People quickly started getting restless for an entirely different reason. This was the battle of the Uchiha survivor vs some unknown Suna kid. The Hokage allowed five more minutes of waiting before Sasuke would be disqualified. As the last few seconds counted down, a swirl of leaves filled the middle of the stadium. Naruto smiled, knowing exactly who it was.

"About time you made it, Sasuke. You were less than a second from being disqualified."

"We were late for a reason Naruto."

The leaves settled down to reveal Kakashi back to back with Sasuke, who was sporting a new one pice black Uchiha suit. _'I'm not going to explain the new clothing. Go look at the episode for yourself if you don't know.'_ Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"You won you match."

It wasn't a question, it was just stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto nodded and jumped down, walking up to Sasuke.

"Watch it. Gaara's like me. He's the Ichibi's container. I wouldn't be surprised if he has full control over it's powers."

Sasuke nodded, and Sasuke looked up at Gaara.

"Get down here."

Gaara teleported down while Naruto and Kakashi left to go their separate ways. Kakashi went to the stands while Naruto went back to the waiting room. The examiner quickly covered the rules for Sasuke's benefit and then began the match. Gaara's sand immediately came out of it's gourd, making Sasuke jump back. Gaara clutched his head and began conversing to no one in particular. Naruto shook his head, muttering to the other contestans.

"Wow, he's conversing with no one. Shukaku really screwed with his mind."

Temari and Kankuro looked at Naruto in fear, while Shino looked at him quizically.

"Shukaku?"

"The weakest demon lord, Sabaku no Shukaku."

Temari and Kankuro were even more scared. Shukaku was the weakest? They'd hate to see what the strongest one was. Little did they know, they were staring at it's container right now. They turned back as Gaara clutched his head again, making the sand drop to the ground. He looked up at Sasuke, apparently more collected.

"Come."

"Let's start."

Sasuke flipped open his shuriken holster and flicked his wrist, releasing a pair of shuriken at Gaara. However, a wall of sand formed in front of him, stopping them. The wall of sand turned into a Suna Bunshin. Sasuke charged forwards, and the Bunshin released a wave of sand from it's chest, aimed straight for Sasuke. Sasuke jumped and released another pair of shuriken to counter the one's the Suna Bunshin had just thrown them back at him. Sasuke twisted his body around to sweep his leg at the Bunshin's neck, but the hands and arms took the damage instead, dissapating. Sasuke did some hand stand acrobatics and jumped back up, slamming his forearm into the bunshin's neck, who looked slightly surprised before getting a gleeful smile on it's face as the sand began to grow over his arm, attempting to trap it for a Sabaku Kyuu. Sasuke palmed the Bunshin's face with his free hand, making it explode. Sasuke took advantage of the break in Shield of Sand, running forward only to be met with another one. Sasuke smirked and body flickered away. Catching everyone's attention. Gaara analysed the movement, finding it overlayed EXACTLY with Naruto's unique Taijutsu style. Gaara only had a moment to appreciate this, as a punch connected with his face, sending him flying with the Shield of Sand trying desperately to catch up and soften his fall.

"That must be the Armour of Sand. Come."

Gaara made no movement to do so, making Sasuke annoyed.

"If you won't come to me then I'll come to you!"

Sasuke charged forward, leaving a large trail of smoke behind him and body flickered out of existance right in front of Gaara's Sand Shield. Gaara tried to form a pair of sand waves to wrap around him, meeting at the back when he sensed Sasuke behind him, however, Sasuke deftly ducked underneath them, giving Gaara a strong kick to the chest, sending him flying into the stadium wall. Sasuke was still confident as ever.

"Is this all you've got? Don't hold back. I want to see how I would compare with Naruto, and you're the perfect person to test on."

Sasuke ripped across the field and ran straight into a continuous ring around Gaara. Naruto smiled. He didn't know how Sasuke had seen it, but this was Lee's Secondary Lotus preparation. Sasuke had seemlessly intergrated it into Naruto's Taijutsu style, creating a completely unique style. Sasuke shot out of the ring and ducked under the ring of sand that had surrounded Gaara, flipping over to kick Gaara in the chin to get him off balance before standing up to grab him by the shirt and kneeing him in the stomach. Sasuke wasn't even panting, showing that the majority of Sasuke's training had been to increase his total stamina capacity. Gaara got back up and formed a ram seal, making the sand form a sphere around him. Naruto knew what this had to be, considering the faint traces of demonic chakra Gaara was emitting all of a sudden. Naruto screamed to Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Finish him now! He's going to bring IT out!"

Sasuke knew better than to ignore such a dire warning from Naruto, so he ran at the sphere and kicked it, finding that it was harder than any rock. Sasuke could feel a spike in killer intent and flipped back as a wall of spikes grew out of the sphere and pierced the air he had just occupied. Sasuke knew there was no point using Taijutsu or even low level Ninjutsu now. He had to go straight to the top. He ran back up the stadium wall and used chakra to stick to the vertical surface. He began forming three very familiar hand seals before gripping his wrist as blue chakra in the form of electricity began forming in his palm, emitting a chirping noise that grew in frequency and number. Eventually, Sasuke's hand was surrounded by the lightning and the chirping reached the pitch and number of chirps that gave the move it's name.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke dragged the Chidori down the wall, colliding with the ground sending a blast of rock and dirt everywhere as he came charging from it, dragging his move along the ground, Sharingan activated, howling a warcry. Sasuke dodged the spikes and shoved the Chidori straight into the sphere, puncturing it, leaving everyone to wait for the result.

"Blood! My own blood!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tried to free his hand. He formed another Chidori and ripped his hand loose as a giant veined appendage made of sand came out after him, feeling around breifly before withdrawing. About a second later, Sasuke's hair flew back as he was buffeted by wind. This didn't bother him in the slightest. What did bother him was the eye he saw for a brief second. It wasn't human, that much was certain. At this point, Sasuke and Naruto noticed something. There was a hell of a lot of molded chakra being emmited from the crowd. They turned to see the entire area under the effects of a sleeping Genjutsu. Their heads snapped to the Kage box as it was covered in smoke. Both of them realised something. This was the start of a war. The Chunin exam was for all intents and purposes, over. Naruto body flickered down to Sasuke's side, while Temari and Kankuro went to Gaara's side. Baki joined the Suna trio while the examiner joined Naruto and Sasuke. Gaara clutched his head and fell to his knees.

"GAARA!"

Baki sneered.

"That's what happens when you try and change into your fully possesed state. Kankuro, Temari. Take Gaara and retreat for now! We can't do this without Gaara."

"HAI!"

They took Gaara and lept up and over the wall. The examiner narrowed his eyes at Baki.

"You think you're going to have it your way?"

"I will make it happen."

The examiner turned his head slightly, indicating he was talking to the boys while being able to watch Baki.

"Sasuke, Naruto. Sorry but the Chunin exam ends here. You're both already Chunin level. If you're Konoha shinobi, then be useful to Konoha."

Naruto smirked.

"So, you want us to continue the fight and beat up that Gaara guy?"

"Don't go too far, though. It's the real thing."

Sasuke looked both ways carefully, planning his best choice of exit from the stadium.

"It's the same thing to us."

Both Naruto and Sasuke charged off in the direction the Sand trio had gone. Baki tried to stop them by throwing four kunais at them, but the examiner counted with four of his own, canceling the others out. Naruto and Sasuke lept over the wall and tore through the trees after Gaara's team. Little did either of them know that Shino was secretly watching them leave, forming a plan of his own.

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**A/N:** Ok, that's that chapter! Guys, your reviews with questions are coming in too fast. Almost the first 4 pages are reserved exclusivly for A/N and that number is growing with each chapter. I'm not usually a guy to stop you guys wanting to find stuff out, but could you please check the reviews and see if your question has already been asked? Chances are, I will have answered it if it's been asked already. Also, if you have more than 3 questions that require more than a yes/no answer about each chapter, please PM me them instead. I'm trying to keep the story of each chapter around 25 pages each. Thanks for understanding guys! Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	7. Demon Lords, Akatsuki & Nukenins

**A/N:** Yo! I'm on a writing spree for this story. This chapter sees the start of the Sasuke/Naruto retrival arc. BTW, I will not answer anyone who asks more than 3 yes or no questions or answer people who ask questions that I've already answered a few times to save space. I said it last chapter, but people still won't listen. If you don't recive a reply, it's because of this.

**Yaegashi-San:** thanks for telling me the name of the examiner.

**Kyuubi-Sama:** Yo! Q & A: 1: You'll see. 2: He left to chase after Gaara. 'nuff said. 3: Read this chapter to find out.

**Conceptor:** He was probably to wrapped up in learning the Rasengan to care. After all, what's a bit of cash to learn a super powerful jutsu? They didn't say much at the time, but wait until you read this chapter. They don't just say. They DO.

**cuaseiambetta:** Well, I actually got a look at the monument for a brief second in one episode. I paused it and looked for anything that vaguely looked like 'Hyuga'. No such luck. I didn't get to see the entire monument, but I got to see 80 percent or so of it. It seemed that all the higher ranking people were put near the top, which was the part I saw. I may be wrong, but I have a sinking suspicion I'm right.

**Solar Guadian:** Yo! Thanks for picking it up. You know the symbol in German for a double s? It looks like a capital B. Well, the Japanese language has the equivalent for a double u. Unfortunately, this site won't process it, so it looks like a single u. It looks like a u with a line above it. That's what I put in my word documents, but it won't stay there when I upload. It's a habit now, and I kinda can't break it...

**Dobe-Teme:** Yeah, that's the one problem that's been plauging me. Well, I'm probably going to have to creat an OC to do it. Meh, it's all good, I'll work something out.

**Silverscale:** Read the paragraph at the top for your first answer. Second answer, no, not entirely. I'm going to have Naruto... Manipulate it in a way.

**chidori-to-the-face: **LOL, I love the name. As for your question, I'm not sure I quite understand it. Could you leave another review clarifying your question or PM me please? Thanks!

And now, for the next chapter! As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Biju thoughts...'_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 5:

Demon Lords, Akatsuki and Nukenins:

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**After a Day of Pursuit:**

Naruto and Sasuke had almost caught up to the Suna group. They were slowing down from obvious exahstion, which showed when they jumped onto a tree brach and set off an exploding tag. Each tree they jumped to set off another one. After about five trees, the tags stopped. Setting traps while running from an opponent meant one of two things. 1: You were getting desperate or 2: You were getting tired. Usually it was both. Sasuke and Naruto jumped and swung through the braches before eventually catching up to the Suna group. Temari motioned for Kankuro to go.

"Temari, there's no way you can-"

"Even if it's just a little, it's better than leaving Gaara here for them to finish. Go!"

Kankuro picked Gaara up and left. Both Sasuke and Naruto knew they would be in a better position to fight Gaara if they took each of them out two on one. Temari jumped forward, throwing six kunai at them, three at each. They both moved their heads slightly, dodging the kunai by inches. Temari lopped around a tree branch, crouching on top of it. All three after analysing the situation body flickered into the air. Sasuke and Naruto threw a hail of kunai and shuriken at Teamri, who swept them away with an air blast. Temari let loose a blast.

"Ninpou, Kamaitachi!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke dodged in different directions as the tree's trunk was neatly cut in half. Each brach they landed on was snapped by another wind blast. Sasuke threw a hail of kunai at her.

"Don't understimate me! Ninpou, Fuusaijin!"

The kunai were deflected back as was Sasuke who hit a tree's trunk but quickly recovered to get behind the tree to avoid the brunt of the damage. Naruto took advantage of Temari's concerntraition on Sasuke to create a Kage Bunshin and made it Body Flicker behind Teamri, grabbing her in a full nelson.

"Sasuke! Now!"

Sasuke quickly came out and took stock of the situation. He formed a small set of hand seals and announced his jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The fire ball raced towards Temari, who managed to use Kawirmi to replace herself with a log, which was promptly incinerated along with the clone. Sasuke noticed Temari on a nearby brach. He used his next jutsu, which Naruto mirrored.

"KATON: HOUSENKA!"

The sets of fireballs raced towards Temari, who backflipped out of the way, following the balls of fire to the ground. The fire surrounded Temari in a circle of fire. Temari looked up to see Sasuke preparing for another jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke's handiwork, shaking his head.

"She's persistant, I'll give her that."

"Kamaitachi!"

The fire was fanned out and Sasuke jumped back to avoid the incoming wind attack. However, he either hadn't noticed, or forgot that the tree's branches were covered in sand, making them slipery. Sasuke slipped and fell, making Temari move in for the kill. She threw three kunai at Sasuke imbedding themselves in his chest. Temari looked rather confident as she inspected his corpse. Naruto laughed, catching her attention.

"If you thought that would beat him, think again."

Temari looked back to see Sasuke had replaced himself with a log that had a complimentry exploding note attached to it. Her eyes widened as the tage went off, sending her flying back. Once she came to a stop, she looked up to see Naruto and Sasuke looking at her with rather bored looks on their faces.

"We don't have time to waste with you."

They both left her there and went off to catch up to Gaara. They quickly caught up to them again. Sasuke threw a series of shurikens at them to make them stop, however, they kept going. Naruto got ahead of them and stopped on the next branch while Sasuke was on the branch behind them.

"Don't run."

"Bring it on."

Temari dropped out of the bushes next to Kankuro.

"What? Temari? I thought they beat you. You were ok?"

"Yeah, somehow. But I couldn't slow them at all."

"Gaara still hasn't had enough time to recover."

"Go, Kankuro. I'll fight him again-"

She was intterupted as Kankuro pulled his puppet off his back and slammed it onto the branch.

"Temari, take Gaara and go. You can't fight anymore. We don't need anyone to burden us."

Temari tried to explain how futile it was, but Kankuro cut her off.

"Go!"

Temari picked up Gaara's limp body and left. Kankuro turned back to the two boys.

"Looks like I'll have to fight you."

"No, I'll be your opponent."

The owner of the voic appeared on the next branch from Sasuke.

"Shino."

"How'd you find us?"

Shino pointed to Naruto.

"I placed a female bug on both of you before you left the stadium. The female is almost odorless. The only thing that can smell the female is a male of the same species. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto. Both of you go after Gaara. I'll take care of him."

Naruto smiled.

"I suggest once you finish him that you don't follow us. It'll get really nasty."

Shino looked at Naruto with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Nasty?"

"The fight'll be way out of your league Shino."

Shino nodded and turned back to Kankuro. Both Naruto and Sasuke jumped up to higher branches and continued the pursuit.

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**Just up Ahead:**

Gaara was finally coming back to his senses.

"Temari... Put me down."

Temari stopped on the nearest branch and put Gaara down.

"Can you move again, Gaara?"

Apparently, he wasn't because he clutched his head and suppressed a cry of mental anguish. Temari removed a medicine bottle from her clothes. Gaara turned around to look behind them.

"Temari... Go away."

Temari didn't understand why Gaara suddenly wanted her to leave, but started getting up.

"What do you mean, Gaara?"

Gaata got up and slammed her into the trunk of the tree.

"Just go over there! You're in the way."

Gaara was panting heavily as he stared at his opponents. Naruto and Sasuke stared back at him. Gaara's armour of sand started cracking, alerting both Naruto and Sasuke something was wrong. Nartuo could already sense Shukaku's chakra seeping out of his vessel. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke. I hate to say it, but this guy's out of your league. The only one who can fight him evenly is another one of his kind."

Sasuke scowled at Gaara.

"I had a suspicion it would be something like that. I'll support."

Naruto nodded and watched as Gaara mumbled incoherent words to himself before he started shaking his head from side to side. The last part of his conversing was very audiable.

"You are my. Prey!"

Gaara's arm was suddnely covered with a lot of sand, as was the right side of his face that came directly from the gourd, and not it's contents. Gaara opened his right eye to reveal the same eye Sasuke had seen during the proper match when Gaara was inside the sphere. Gaara jumped and threw his transformed arm forward, completely decimating the tree they were both standing on. Naruto held up a single finger, which was their universal sign for 'cover for me for a moment'. Sasuke charged at Gaara, replacing himself with a log as Gaara was about to cut a huge section out of his side, appearing above Gaara and launching two handfuls of kunai, which Gaara absorbed into his sand arm. Naruto was thinking with his tenant.

_'Shit. This is really bad. Even if I used the same amount of chakra as with Neji, I'd only force him to go to the next stage, which would outclass me again... Shit... Kyubi, any ideas?'_

_**'Kit, it's about time I gave you the next stage. It'll hurt, but the effects will be well worth it.'**_

_'I'm willing to try just about anything at the moment.'_

Naruto felt the Kyubi's chakra rush into his system and exploded out of him in a massive shockwave. The tree's trunk was obliterated as Naruto's features started to turn more feral. _'I am not explaining Kyubified Naruto AGAIN.'_ Temari stared at the boy in horror. This really was a battle of the monsters. However, Kyubi wasn't done yet.

_**'This is the part I was talking about.'**_

Nartuo's stomach started feeling pulsing with jabs of pain as blood red goo like chakra started seeping out of it. The chakra quickly surrounded Naruto, burning him in the process. Naruto screamed as the chakra past his head and completely engulfed him. Naruto turned around to face Gaara and he dropped to all fours.

"**Two can play your game Shukaku."**

Gaara was gleeful that he finally had an oppenent worth fighting.

"This is fun, Uzumaki Naruto. This is fun!"

Gaara flew at him, but Naruto just raised an arm and brought it down in a vertical slash. What no one expected was the chakra surrounding his hand extended and grappled with Gaara's arm. Naruto used his extindable arm to hurl Gaara through seveal trees before he came to a stop on a branch. Gaara laughed as he got up.

"I know why this battle is so fun. It's because of this pain. If I kill the only two people to have hurt me, I'll get an even stronger sensation of life!"

Gaara's gourd turned into more sand, which covered his left arm, body and legs. Sasuke looked horrified at Gaara. Naruto turned to Sasuke, who looked at him. Naruto nodded, holding out his right hand, forming a Rasengan. Sasuke activated the Sharingan and formed the three hand seals for the Chidori, powering it up. Gaara/Shukaku flew at them, and they jumped at him. Naruto's Rasengan pierced Gaara's left arm and shoulder, while Sasuke's Chidori did the same to his right. Garra lie still for a moment as he fell onto a nearby tree branch, before getting up, only to find a giant version of Naruto's chakra claw hovering over him. Gaara had no where to run, and so took the full impact as it slammed him through the tree branch into the ground. The chakra hand dissapated leaving a very damanged Gaara. Nartuo charged at Gaara, readying for the final blow. But Gaara got up and grappled Naruto's chakra hand with his own. Gaara had the advantage of being able to swing Naruto this time, taking full advantage of that, he threw him through several trees. Gaara noticed the presence of a new person, and turned to his left to see Sakura. Sasuke growled at her.

"Sakura! Get out of here now! I'm not even strong enough to take part in this!"

Sakura looked at the absolute fear in her crushes eyes, and didn't notice Gaara flying at her, slamming her up against the trunk and separated the sand hand from his arm, leaving Sakura pinned against the trunk. Gaara smiled at Naruto and Sasuke.

"If you want to save this woman, then you have to beat me. If you don't, the sand will constrict tighter and eventually kill her!"

Sasuke looked at Sakura in distaste.

"We need to save you again. You're annoying."

Sakura couldn't hear this, as she was already unconcious. Naruto got pissed off. Not only at Gaara for taking hostages, but at Sakura for being so devoted to her love life that she hadn't even noticed Gaara flying at her until he'd smashed her into the trunk. Naruto growled and charged at Gaara, sending both hands forward and began pummeling him into the ground. He still didn't stop, and continued his combo, smashing everything around him before powering up his fist whith chakra and giving Gaara a punch he would definitely remember. The sand around Gaara flew off him, revealing that the right side of his sand body had been completely destroyed. Naruto jumped back up and dove in again, ready to finish him off, however, Gaara decided to step the battle up a notch.

"There's no way I can lose to this guy!"

Gaara's body grew exponentially, covering the area in smoke. When it finally cleared, Naruto saw Shukaku's true form. Kyubi knew Naruto was screwed if this kept up.

_**'Oi, Kit! Get down here now!'**_

For the Kyubi to call him to the cage in the middle of a battle, it had to be serious. Naruto entered his mind scape, and this time was right in front of the cage.

"**Kit, even if I gave you another tail, not only would your body be unable to take the power, but it still wouldn't be enough for you to win. I really didn't want to do this, but I have no choice. Without this, both of us are going to die."**

Kyubi's chakra seeped out of it's cage and condensed into a scroll made out of chakra.

"**It's the contract of the foxes. You haven't signed a summon contract, and without something like an high ranking summon, you have will die the second you get out of here. Sign it quickly!"**

Naruto opened the scroll and signed the first available space with his blood, finishing with his blood finger prints. The scroll wrapped itself up and dissapated, before the waves of chakra seeped back into the cage.

"**I wouldn't have given you the contract to sign for a couple of years yet, but I had no choice. The seals are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Get out of here."**

Naruto nodded and noticed he was back in the real world, and currently being surrounded by sand. He managed to turn his head to Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Get over here!"

Sasuke lept to the branch Naruto was on just as Naruto bit his thumb and was covered in sand. Sasuke tried to get the sand off him, but it held tight.

"Naruto!"

"**Sabaku Sos-"**

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The sand splattered of Naruto, showering Sasuke. However, the more noticable change apart from the intense amount of smoke was that they were rising at a rapid rate. Once the smoke cleared, they saw they were on top of a giant red nine tailed fox. Said fox looked up at them.

"**You're always full of suprises, kit. I don't know how you pulled this one off, but you did. As for you, Uchiha. The only reason I'm not killing you right now is because my host thinks of you as his kin. If you were anyone else, you would have been dead along time ago."**

Sasuke silently thanked Naruto and they stared at their oppenent. Kyubi's tails slapped the ground, splitting a mountain in half before he grinned in a way that put Naruto's foxy grin to shame.

"**It's been several hundred years since I last saw that form. However, that is Shukaku's form only, it is not Shukaku himself. Oi, kit, why don't you bring Shukaku out? I wouldn't mind talking to him again."**

The sand on Shukaku's head began softening before the top half of Gaara's form came out. Gaara opened his eys to reveal bloodshot pupiless whites.

"This is my reward for entertaining me, Uzumaki Naruto. I will show you Shukaku's true power."

Gaara formed a ram seal and promptly fell asleep. Shukaku was completely still for a moment before it's eyes became an intense yellow colour and it screamed.

"**YAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm finally free!"**

Shukaku looked at the Kyubi in interest.

"**It's been a while... Kyubi-_Hime."_**

Naruto and Sasuke looked at Shukaku like he was half mad. How could the Kyubi be any less feminine? It was the embodiment of destruction. Naruto voiced his opinion.

"Kyubi-Hime? What the hell?"

"**It's been a long standing joke amongst us demon lords. It would take too long to explain, so I'll do it later. As for YOU, Shukaku. How about we end that last sparring match we never got to finish?"**

"**Sounds good to me, Kyubi."**

Kyubi charged forward, attempting to jab Shukaku with it's tails as it flew through the air. Kyubi landed on Shukaku's shoulder and pulled on it's arm, ripping it right off. Kyubi landed behind Shukaku and grinned at him.

"**You've gotten weaker since we last met."**

Naruto called out to his tenant.

"Oi, Kyubi! Sakura's over here!"

"**Oh? Want me to kill that pink haired bitch?"**

Naruto sighed. Was all Kyubi thought about destruction?

"No, she's more useful alive than dead for now. Just finish off Shukaku."

"**Fine."**

Kyubi charged again and dodged as Shukaku used a jutsu.

"**Fuuton: Renkyuudan!"**

Shukaku had taken a deep breath in and slammed his fist into his stomach, forcing a giant ball of air heavily infused with chakra out which ripped throught the forest Kyubi had been in only moments ago. Kyubi began charing one of it's own jutsus while it was midair.

"**Katon: Gouka!"** _'Fire Type: Hell Fire.'_

Shukaku released another Renkyuudan to counter. The resulting explodion was tremendous. It covered an area approximately seveal square kilometres. Kyubi landed and jumped again straight away. Shukaku released a barrage of compressed air balls, to which Kyubi countered everyone of them. Kyubi directed itself towards Shukaku throught the clouds of smoke and bit Shukaku's other arm off, much to Shukaku's chargrin.

"**Shukaku, what in the nine layers of hell have you been doing? This isn't even fun! I'm dissapointed in you."**

Kyubi charged and bit into Shukaku's chest while grabbing it's shoulders with both it's claws. It raised an eye to it's two riders.

"**Oi you two, go and smack that brat awake. I'm bored."**

Sasuke and Naruto jumped off Kyubi and both of them smacked Gaara awake. Shukaku let back it's head in a howl of fustraition.

"**God damn it! I just came out you know! I'll get you yet, Kyubi!"**

Shukaku's eyes dulled and Gaara opened his eyes. Naruto and Sasuke charged him again, but Gaara tried to absorb them into the sand. Naruto struggled to get free and Sasuke wasn't fairing much better. Kyubi realised Naruto's problem. Without being in his body, he couldn't access it's chakra.

"**Oi, kit, I'm going back. Later."**

The Kyubi poofed out of existance and Nartuo felt it's chakra once again flood his system. The sand around Naruto blasted off, as did Naruto's forehead protector. His jacket also ripped open. He charged Gaara, hoping to stop him before he killed Sasuke. Naruto broke through the tendrils of sand that tried to stop him and slugged Gaara in the face, dispelling Shukaku' form. All three boys fell to earth. Gaara landed on the ground, face first, while Naruto landed in a crouch, breathing heavily. Sasuke landed next to Naruto's forehead protector, noticing that it had a scratch mark through the symbol. Sasuke smiled and picked it up, walking shakily back to Naruto. He was just in time to see Naruto stand over Gaara, giving him a lecture.

"It was painful, wasn't it? The hatred from the villagers. That pain... Isn't normal. No maortal should have to experience it. The threats... The assasination attempts... The isolation..."

"Why? Why do you fight? What makes you so strong?"

"I don't fight just for myself. I found a single person in my life who saved me from the dark hell that was my childhood. He acknowledged me, and even accepted the fact that I had a demon in me, not thinking less of me for it. Gaara, the only way you can become trully strong is to find the people who will accept you for what you are and fight with them and for them. Everyone else is trash. Gaara, I'm willing to put up with you attacking Konoha, but attacking my only friend and brother is something that I will not accept. If you ever do it again, I'll kill you."

Sasuke smiled widely at the praise Naruto was lavishing on him. It was a very rare occurance, even in private. It made him realise that they were simmilar beyond a doubt. They had been each other's support growing up. Without the other, the one remaining would have given up long ago. Sasuke stood next to Naruto. Just then, Kankuro and Teamri appeared in front of Gaara, deciding whether to fight or run. Gaara made the decision for them.

"Don't fight them. Let's stop."

"Gaara..."

Kankuro lent down and picked Gaara up.

"Sure thing."

They took one last look at the pair before disappearing into the trees, back toward Suna. Gaara, with the last of his power, decided to try Naruto's advice.

"Kankuro... Temari... I'm sorry..."

They both looked at him, then at each other. Kankuro answered for him.

"No problem, Gaara."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Several Days Later:**

Once they got back to the village, they found out that the Sandaime had been killed by his own student. Naruto was patched up and then discharged from hospital, reguardless of the fact that he needed a day's rest before he should be discharged. From the looks of the villagers, they hated him even more now. But the looks also contained a small bit of something else. After a while, Naruto recognised it. Fear. They'd seen Naruto's manifestation of the Kyubi's chakra, and heard him saying it was practically a negligable amount compared to what he could manage. Naruto laughed inwardly.

_'Serves the bastard's right.'_

Kyubi sent Nartuo a mental image of the town in flames. Naruto actually laughed out loud at that one, causing people to look at him in even more anger. One man actually spoke out.

"What the hell's so funny, demon?"

"Nothing you could understand."

The man decided to try and punch Naruto, who took the man's wrist and held it.

"If you ever try that again, I'll break it. Understand?"

The man attempted to jerk his hand away, which Naruto let him do and watched as he ran down the street in fear.

_'Jeez, what a weakling. I didn't even hit him...'_

Naruto went back home and sat on his bed. Naruto had been told to attend the funeral, but he decided that wouldn't be the smartest idea. Evidently, Sasuke thought the same thing, and knocked on Naruto's door in their signature door knock that only they knew. Naruto opened the door to see Sasuke standing there in his black Uchiha clothing.

"Not going either?"

"Nah. They'll just mob me. Come in."

Naruto let Sasuke in and closed the door behind him. Naruto kept a supply of Sasuke's favorite tea in the pantry for when he came over. Sasuke knew Naruto could barely afford it, but it was a nice gesture. Sasuke kept a stack of instant ramen in his kitchen pantry for when Naruto came to visit as well. A lot of each other's personalities had rubbed off on the other. Sasuke, although he could never love ramen as much as Naruto, eventually came to like it. Naruto also learnt to like the tea Sasuke loved. They both sat at Naruto's small two seater table with their freshly prepared ramen and tea. Nothing was said. Nothing need to be said. They were just getting to the point in their companionship when they could convey emotions through slight movements of certain parts of their bodies, which the other most of the time would understand what they meant. There were quite a few times when they mistook an action's meaning for something else, but a choice word or two would clear it up. They had a game of sorts to see if they could have an entire conversation through body langauge with no stuff ups. The time past, and the day wore on. Eventaully, Sasuke got up to leave.

"Thanks for that Naruto."

Naruto knew Sasuke was thanking him for something else besides the hospitality due to the extreme amount of pride in his posture and eyes. Naruto knew he was talking about his speech to Gaara.

"No problem. I know you'd do the same for me."

Sasuke smiled and left to go. He opened the door to see that there were a lot of people gathering in the general area. He shut the door quickly but quietly and turned to Naruto. Naruto could tell by his body posture that the villages had decided to take their anger out on him yet again for the death of their kage. This death though had even less to do with him than the Yondaime's death. Naruto quickly grabbed a few things like kunai, exploding tags, his wallet and a few other tidbits, shoved them into his bag and headed for the bathroom. Naruto had long ago prepared an escape route for this situation. Sasuke follwed him as Naruto slipped his finger under part of the tiled floor to reveal a home made trap door. Naruto lifted it and revealed a chute of sorts. Naruto motioned for Sasuke to get in. Sasuke jumped in and Naruto did after him. The tiled floor slipped back into place seemlessly. Once they hit the ground, Naruto led the way forward in the inky blackness. Sasuke stumbled as his foot caught something, but Naruto grabbed his hand to steady him. Sasuke held onto Naruto's hand as they ran through the twisting maze of pitch black corridors. Finally Naruto slowed down and stopped at what Sasuke thought was some random spot. Naruto felt along the wall until he found the raised metal bar that indicated the first rung and started climbing. Sasuke felt along the wall and found it too and followed Naruto up. Naruto stopped and put his ear to the surface above him. After several seconds, Naruto slowly pushed the grate up and blinked at the relatively bright light. Even if it was a cloudy day, It was still far brighter than it was down there. Naruto looked out and saw that there was no one in the general area, so he shoved the grate off and got out, followed by Sasuke. Naruto replaced the grate and looked around. He could vaguely hear shouts in the distance, but decided they weren't a threat at the moment. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"It's best if you went home. If they saw you with me, they'd accuse me of using my demonic powers to brainwash you or some shit like that."

Sasuke nodded and began walking home. Naruto decided that he needed to find Ero-Sennin and get out of here for a while. Naruto found Jiraiya walking down the street. When Jiraiya noticed him, he came up to him and looked sternly at him.

"The villagers are in uproar now. I've been asked to go and get the Godaime Hokage so they'll be able to try and maintain some sort of piece in this village. They didn't say I couldn't, but I suggest you come with me."

Naruto nodded and started walking with Jiraiya towards the south gate, which they were thankfully close to. They walked out the gate and away from Konoha.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Later That Day:**

Sasuke had gotten fed up with waiting for Kakashi to come to training. He'd even well and trully past his own record for tardiness, so he decided to go pay his house a visit, When he got there, he noticed that the door was open, so he walked through the house and found the Jounin instructors for the Rookie 9 as well as Gai there. Sasuke noticed that Kakashi was laying in bed sleeping.

"Why the hell is Kakashi asleep? And why are all of you here? What happened?"

"Nothing much."

At that point, a Jounin burst in, having a completely different story.

"Is it true that THE Uchiha Itachi came back and is after the demon?"

Sasuke turned around and stared at the man. He slammed him into the door and charged outside. He knew Naruto was as good as dead if Itachi got him. Even with Sasuke there to help him, they would likely stand no chance of winning. Sasuke charged towards Ichiraku ramen and overheard someone talking to a friend.

"Did you hear? Jiraiya-Sama's gone to get the Godaime Hokage!"

That was all he needed to hear, as it was likely that Jiraiya had taken Naruto with him. Judging by the fact that the earliest they could have left was several hours ago, there was a ¼ chance of going in the right direction and finding them soon. He didn't like those odds, so he went to Ichiraku and asked the old man.

"Hey, old man! Did Naruto come past here?"

"Hmm, I think he did. He said something about going to pick up the Godaime Hokage. He had Jiraiya-Sama with him."

"Do you know anything about which way they went?"

"They left from the south gate, I think. They said something about a lodging town not far from here."

Sasuke had one last question.

"What does Jiraiya look like?"

"He's a big white haired old man."

"Thanks!"

With that, Sasuke's destination was set. He had everything he needed to find them, so he flew out of the village and towards the nearest lodging town to the south.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**At the Lodging Town:**

Jiraiya had taken Naruto to this town to start searching for information. They had just checked into an inn for the night when Jiraiya spotted a particulalrly good looking woman in a very skimpy dress. As Naruto had predicted, Jiraiya handed Naruto the keys and told him to go train in their room. Naruto sighed, muttering about 'damn Ero-Sennins' and 'easy to manipulate' before complying. By this stage, Sasuke had arrived in the town and began systematically searching every inn. He reached a particular inn and asked the usual question to the receptionist.

"Are a white haired old man and a blonde kid staying here?"

The receptionist looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying.

"I think I saw a pair matching that description come just as I started my shift..."

"Which room?"

"Let's see... Second floor, end of the hall. Room 1."

The receptionist looked up to see the boy had gone. Sasuke charged up the stairs and ran to the room mentioned. He knocked on it. Naruto dispelled his clones as he heard a knock on his door. He went over to the door and opened it to find something he never expected. Sasuke had gotten the wrong room. It was indeed the room of a white haired old man and a blonde kid, but they weren't Naruto and Jiraiya. Sasuke appologised and ran to where he felt a sudden chakra spike several rooms away. Naruto had opened the door to see a figure in a black cloak with red clouds on it.

_'Oh. Shit. Akatsuki.'_

Naruto looked up into the Akatsuki member's face to reveal a face very simmilar to Sasuke. Black hair, gaunt features and most importantly, Sharingan. Nartuo took a step back.

"Uchiha... Itachi..."

"Let's go outside, Naruto-Kun."

What choice did Nartuo have? He was no match for him. He didn't stand a chance, and knowing Akatsuki, they always travelled in pairs. Behind Itachi was a very fish like man who towered over Itachi. He had a rather large sword strapped to his back.

"Hoshigaki... Kisame..."

"Oh? You know me? I'm honoured. Itachi-San, it would be annoying if he moved around. Perhaps we should chop a leg off or two?"

Itachi said nothing, making no move to stop his partner from doing it. So Kisame grabbed his sword's handle and stepped forward.

"It's settled then."

Just as Kisame was about to pull his sword off his back, he stopped and looked at Itachi. Itachi made no movement to turn around to address their visitor.

"It's been a while, Sasuke."

Kisame was slightly amused.

"Oh? The Sharingan, and he's very simmilar to you. Who is he?"

"My Otouto."

"Uchiha Itachi. We're going to kill you. Nartuo, be careful. This guy's a freak."

They both closed their eyes before opening them simultaniously.

"Like you said, I've hated you, detested you, and I've-"

Sasuke's hair had already began flying and a Chidori formed. He grabbed his collar, a psychotic look in his eyes.

"I've... Survived!"

Sasuke slammed the Chidori into the wall. Naruto knew they stood a better chance if they attacked from both sides and began forming a Rasengan. Sasuke dragged the Chidori down the wall and Naruto lunged towards Itachi. When their attacks hit home, there was a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Naruto and Sasuke saw that Itachi had very calmly shoved their wrists into the wall, blowing an entire room to pieces. Itachi clamly threw them to the far wall, before stepping up to them.

"Both of you are being annoying."

Itachi proceeded to beat the crap out of them with no hint of mercy. Finally, he shoved Sasuke up against the wall and stared at him.

"Omae wa yowai. Naze yowai ka? Tarinai kara...nikushimi ga." _'If you don't know what this means, it's possibly the most famous speech in the entire series. IE the hate talk.'_

"Tsukuyomi."

Sasuke began screaming from the memories. Nartuo tried to get up and attack Itachi, but Itachi just slammed him back up against the wall.

"Tsukuyomi."

Naruto's vision was distorted and he ended up in a world of red, black and white. Itachi appeared before him. He looked around to see that he was on the Wave Bridge.

"Oh shit..."

"For the next 24 hours, you will watch yourself commit the Wave Massacre."

Naruto howled in angish before Itachi dropped him to the floor uncerimoniously. Itachi became awear of another presence just behind him. A very powerful one. He turned to see Jiraiya already performing a jutsu.

"Ninpou, Gamaguchi Shibari."

The walls, floor and ceiling began growing what looked to be the inside of a stomach. Itachi looked to Kisame.

"Kisame. Come."

Kisame freed himself and his sword before disapearing down the corridor after Itachi.

"It's no use. No noe has ever escaped from this jutsu before."

Jraiya pumped more chakra into the jutsu and a wall of meat went after Itachi and Kisame. Kisame gave Itachi some time to make an escape route by cutting off the apendages of stomach muscle that were trying to devour them. Jiraiya was smiling smugly as he felt them fall into the trap. He was shocked when he heard an explosion, and raced to check what had happened. When he rounded the corner, he saw that the end of the corridor had been completely blown away and was surrounded by a ring of black flames. Jiraiya pulled out a blank scroll and wrote a seal onto it before using the seal.

"Fuuinjutsu: Fuukahouin!"

A stream of chakra came out of the seal and engulfed the fire, before drawing itself and the black flames back into the seal. Once that had been done, Jiraiya rolled the scroll up and tied it up, putting it in his pack. He stomped on the ground to dismiss his frog's stomach lining. At that point, Gai ran into the hole in the wall and announced his appearance.

"Dynamic Entry!"

He kicked Jiraiya in the face, quite pleased with himself until he realised who he had just kicked. He sweatdropped and helped Jiraiya up, who was rather surprised that Gai could be such an idiot. After some quick explaining, Gai turned to see the very still forms of Naruto and Sasuke next to each other, which Jiraiya noticed.

"Itachi mentally tortured them. I can't take either of them with me in that condition. Could you take them back to the Leaf?"

Gai nodded and picked them up, giving a few words to Jiraiya before heading back to the village.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**2 Days Later:**

Both boys had been put in the same hospital room and had not said a word since they came in. Sakura fussed over Sasuke, completely oblivious to the fact that he was on the verge of killing her. Finally, Naruto turned to Sakura and whispered. It may have been a whisper, but since both of them had said nothing since they came in, so it caught Sakura's attention immedeately.

"Sakura. Do you really love Sasuke?"

Sakura looked at Naruto like he'd grown another head.

"Of course I do!"

"Then look at him. What do his actions tell you?"

Sakura inspected Sasuke like a doctor would a patient.

"He's lonely."

Naruto sneered at her.

"You don't love him at all. If you really loved him, then you would have known to leave him alone. Right now, he's only just restraining himself from killing you."

Sakura looked at Narurto horrifed. Her precious Sasuke-Kun would never do that! Despite Naruto's warnings, Sakura started peeling an apple and cutting it, intent to hand feed Sasuke. When she put the first piece forward, he smashed it away, startling Sakura to no end. Sasuke spoke to her, his voice totally devoid of emotions.

"You don't listen do you? All you damn fan girls want is the bragging rights for getting me into their bed. It's disgusting. Do you think I need to be hand fed by you? I'm leaving. Naruto, let's go."

Both of them got out of bed and left a startled Sakura trying to piece together what had just happened.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Not Far Away, in a Tree:**

Both Naruto and Sasuke were sitting in the tree next to each other, having a minor body language conversation. What they didn't expect was to see four Oto nins surround them. Naruto and Sasuke stood up.

"So, these are the two Orochimaru has an interest in... Look kind of weak to me..."

That did it. Naruto charged the double headed freak and punched him in the gut. However, the guy just took it like a non chakra powered flick, and slammed the boy up against the wall. Sasuke didn't miss a beat and went to attack the guy's unprotected back, but the guys second head came alove, and a pair of hands shot out of it's body, throwing Sasuke next to Naruto. Naruto looked at Sasuke who was scowling at them. Naruto released a small burst of chakra, catching Sasuke's attention. Sasuke looked at Naruto who was half smiling. Sasuke got the message. 'Time to set our plans in motion.' Sasuke nodded and stood up slowly.

"So, Orochimaru want us to go to him? Whatever. This village has nothing left for us. We were waiting for an opportunity like this to get out of this hell hole."

Jibroubou smiled. This was easier than expected.

"Get your stuff and meet us at the hill just outside the West Gate."

They dissapeared. Naruto smiled at Sasuke.

"Finally."

"Yeah. Let's go."

Naruto and Sasuke walked to the Uchiha manor. Naruto already had his bag from his trip with Jiraiya. Naruto walked into Sasuke's room and watched as he gathered a few things into his bag. Sasuke stopped at the picture fram of Team Seven. He slammed it face down onto the window sill, showing they were through with these kiddy games. Sasuke pulled something out of his pocket. It was Nartuo's old forehead protector. Nartuo smiled when he saw the scratch through it. Sasuke chucked it to Naruto, who took his old one off, dropping it to the floor. Naruto saw Sasuke take out a kunai and slash his forehead protector. Naruto smiled. There was no going back now. They left the Uchiha Manor under the cover of darkness. As they neared the West Gate, they saw the last person they wanted to see. Sakura. She turned to them, smiling sadly. Sasuke scowled at her.

"Why are you prowling around here in the middle of the night?"

"I knew you'd come through here if I waited..."

"Sakura, go back home and get some sleep."

They both walked past her, but Sakura wouldn't learn when to shut it.

"Why won't you say anything to me? Why do you always stay so quiet, never saying a single word to me?"

"Because..."

"You're annoying."

Sakura looked at them sadly. There was only one option left.

"If you leave, I'll scream!"

"No you won't."

Sasuke had appeared behind her and hit some nerves in the back of her neck that knocked her unconcious. They left her there as they exited the west gate and found the Sound Four waiting for them exactly where they had said they would. Sakon spoke first.

"Good of you to join us, Sasuke-Sama, Naruto-Sama. When we left our villiage, it waas decided you would be our leaders. Please forgive our rude welcome."

"Whatever. Let's just get the hell out of here."

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**A/N:** OMG, Sasuke & Naruto defect! Oh the angst, the drama, the-

Readers: _'Groan'_

Meh, well, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter sees the Sasuke/Naruto retreival arc in full swing! As a final note, once this 'arc' is over, the time skip will occur. However, instead of the time skip completely missing 3 years, I will have small tidbits of what Sasuke and Naruto did during that time. Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	8. Sasuke & Naruto's True Identities

**A/N:** Yo! This is the true beginning of the Sasuke/Narto retrival arc. A little after the time skip, this story is going all original. This chapter will be taking the retreival from the perspective of the Sound Four/Kimimaro when they're with Sasuke/Naruto. BTW, this chapter explains how Kyubi came to the mortal world in a rather... Unusual way. My attempt to lighten the uber angsty story a bit. I personally think it's funny. If the majority of you say it doesn't work or somesuch, I'll change it. It's just really hard to figure out a way to work it in there without having the Kyubi just out and out try and seduce him, which would be even worse than what I have now. BTW, I only planned for the first half of the story to be dripping angst and drama. This next part will involve fighting, but it will focus more on Sasuke and Naruto's adventures. I'm consideringmaking this into a series so that the next chapter won't look so muchlike I was on some form of illicit substance when I wrote it.Now, Comments/Questions/Suggestions:

**firareth3: **Yo! Well, at that point, Naruto & Sasuke were in the hospital back at Konoha. They hadn't defected yet, but they were close to it.

**Kyuubi-Sama:** Read this chapter to find out the answer to both your questions.

**becomingthis: **Personally, I don't blame you if you missed it. I only hinted at it twice, and very very subtly. Naruto wants to get revenge on the people of Konoha because they treated him like shit because he essentailly saved them.

**Aidis:** The official description of the jutsu is it's a cross between body flicker and summoning. That's all that's known about it. I just came up with an explination on the spot as to how it might be possible following that line of reasoning.

**Del'Cera Osirin:** Well, read this chapter to find out the answer to the first two questions. As for the NaruxFemale Demon Container OC fics, look at my other series. Also, NekoGuyFan's Through a Dragon's Eye is another good one. There's an entire c2 group devoted to NaruxOC. If you go there, you should find every single NaroxOC fic on this site. Mixed in will be NarutoxFemale Jinchuriki fics. Unfortunately, there's only 16 of them, two of which are mine...

**Conceptor:** Sorry, I didn't quite follow the first question. Which fight & conclusion are you talking about? For the answer to your second question, read the response I gave firareth3. They had just recieved a Tsukuyomi attack. My mind would be pretty screwed as well...

**Katana Haibane:** Kyubi was trying to cover the fact up until she could tell them at a better time. Which happens to be this chapter.

**Shurken Master:** I find your 'review' amusing. Hurry up? I'm possibly the fastest updater on this site, yet you want me to 'hurry up'? I suppose it would have been a bit too much to ask you to ask nicely, such as maybe a 'please update soon' or something? I've updatedat a rate of practically a 7 to 10 thousand word chapter every day for the past3 days, and you're telling me to 'hurry up'? That's pretty fucked.Until you author a 200k word story in 4 weeks, don't tell me to hurry up.

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Biju thoughts...'_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 6:

Sasuke & Nartuo's True Identities:

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**Next Morning:**

The Chunins that had been blocking the entrance to room 201 in the first test of the Chunin Exams were carrying stacks of paper that the council had requested. Everyone was shocked that Tsunade had declined the application. They stopped when they saw the female Genin of Team 7 laying on the ground in the middle of the path. One of them put the stack of papers down and shook her awake. She woke with a start.

"Sasuke-Kun! Naruto!"

"Are you alright? What are you doing laying in the middle of the street?"

Sakura quickly told them what had happened, and she was rushed to see the elders. They took this information gravely.

"We knew this would happen. And Naruto even managed to brainwash the Uchiha into following him. Get Shikamaru here immediately."

One of the Chunin's standing guard saluted and ran to the Nara household. Shikamaru was dragged from his usual morning breakfast to report to the council.

"Shikamaru, we have called you here because two of your former companions have defected to the Sound."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Indeed."

Shikamaru sighed. He knew this would happen, it was only a matter of time. The council began telling him how due to the Suna/Oto invasion, their shinobi forces had been severely depleted. Shikamaru was instructed to gather the remaining Genin from the rookie 9 and Team Gai and give pursuit. He was also ordered to bring back Sasuke alive at all costs. Naruto was expendable. Shikamaru didn't listen to that part. He quickly gathered the Genin and proceeded to draw a stratergy in the dirt to show the formation they would travel in, before Shikamaru gave the order to go. They took off through the trees in pursuit of Sasuke and Naruto.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**About Half a Day's Travel Ahead:**

Sakon stopped suddenly and turned to both Sasuke and Naruto.

"Ok, Sasuke-Sama, Naruto-Sama. I think we've gotten far enough from the village of Konoha."

"For what?"

"We had one final order from Orochimaru-Sama."

"Which was what?"

Sakon grinned sadistically at him.

"You must 'die' once."

"What do you mean, 'die' once?"

Sakon put a hand in his pocket before pulling out a bottle of pills.

"Seishigan. You'll need to eat one of these each."

"Seishigan? What exactly will that pill do?"

Tayuya answered.

"Both of your seals are currently at level one. That pill will foceably increase it to level two."

Sakon shook the bottle like a test tube.

"However, the level two seal dramatically increases the contamination rate. If we don't do anything you will die. In other words, in order to control the level 2 power, your body needs some time to adjust to the level two curse. With the level two curse, you will probably posses the same strength as us. When the level two seal awakens, there will only be a few minutes before you die. However, that's the reason we were sent here. We will place you in a specially sealed container that will lessen the effects of the pill from death to a temporary death like coma."

"How reliable are your barrier skills?"

Kidumaru pointed to himself confidently.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-Sama. We're Orochimaru's elite bodyguards, so our primary skills are creating seals and barriers. The only person better than us at it is Orochimaru-Sama himself."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who looked back at him. To the others, it seemed as if they were almost daring the other to go first, but the reality was quite different. Naruto closed his eyes.

_'Can you try and maintain my free will? If not, there's no point in going on.'_

_**'That's a tough ask, kit. I'll see what I can do.'**_

_'If you fail, all of our goals will stop here.'_

_**'Thanks for the support, kit.'**_

_'Whatever. Um... Goodluck...'_

_**'Just eat the damn pill.'**_

Naruto opened his eyes and turned to Sasuke. He made several minute movements. Sasuke correctly intupretted it as 'bare with it.' Sasuke nodded and they both popped the pills in their mouth before swallowing. They both felt the effects kick in immediately and they fell to their knees.

"Shit, hurry up you guys, they're gonna die!"

Sakon ripped the scroll off his back, opening it and bringing forth a wooden barrel. Jibroubou picked up Sasuke while Kidumaru picked up Naruto. They placed them in the barrel and began the sealing jutsu.

"SHIKOKUMUJIN!"

Purple chakra spiralled off them and formed a helix that spiralled down in a cone to hit the top of the barrel. Once it cleared, it revealed a pitch black lid that absorbed all sunlight, reflecting nothing back. Sakon took out five paper seals, biting his thumb and formed a few more hand seals.

"Fuukoku Houin!"

Sakon threw the tags which slapped around the edge of the lid at equal distances. They admired their handy work.

"Yosh, first step's done."

Jibroubou was assigned to carry the container as the Sound Four trudged back home. They were intterupted by two Jounin. It was a quick but harsh battle. Sound Four left the Jounins lying there, barely clinging to life. They were exausted, since they were forced to use their level two seals. They sat in a small clearing, resting until they could move again. Sakon cursed.

"Damn it. We're losing time resting. Time we don't have."

Tayuya looked at Sakon, panting.

"It can't be helped. We lose way too much strength when we use level 2."

Jibroubou sighed.

"What troubles me most is we can't even use our bodies."

Kidumaru looked at them in annoyance.

"There wasn't any other way against two Jounins. If we had tried to concerve chakra, we most likely would have died."

Everyone in the clearing felt Kidumaru tense, and knew they had more visitors. They ignored it, not alerting the visitors to the fact they had been found. Sakon btought out a kunai he had been slowly attaching an exploding tag to from behind his back and threw it at the visitors. Two of them flew forward from the explosion and into the clearing. Sakon made a crude joke.

"Eh? What's this? I poked the bush and got two bugs instead of rabbits."

Shikamaru got up waving his hands in front of him.

"Woah, hang on! We didn't come to fight, we came to negotiate."

An set of explosions went off to their left and right, bringing a bunch of people from each side into the clearing. Kidumaru laughed.

"Sending people to flank us is what you call negotiating? That's a tad aggressive for negotiation."

Shikamaru smirked.

"Well, it worked. Kagemane no Jutsu success."

Shikamaru had extended his shadow to capture all four of them. Sakon chuckled.

"Did it? You seem to have taken the bait perfectly."

Shikamaru was cut from behind by two shuriken which were launched by a trap, canceling his concerntraition for the Kagemane no Jutsu. Jibroubou slammed his palms into the ground, causing a minature earthquake. The earthquake turned out to be focussed around the group of Konoha ninjas and it quickly formed a dome over them.

"Doton: Kekkai Doroudoumu!"

Jibroubou smirked.

"I'll take care of these guys. This should give me enough chakra to use stage two again if necessary. Take Sasuke-Sama and Naruto-Sama and go!"

The remaining members of the Sound Four turned to leave.

"Well, catch up to us when you're done eating."

Kidumaru picked up the barrel and left.

"Don't take too long."

"Sure thing."

The three of them jumped into the trees, leaving Jibroubou to deal with them.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Little While Later:**

Sakon 'hmph'ed, catching the other's attention.

"Jibroubou... He's late."

Kidumaru looked behind him with a smile.

"Nah, he's already here."

Jibroubou caught up with them. Tayuya looked at him with a look of annoyance.

"What took you so long?"

"It took longer than expected to eat their chakra."

"Well, now that you're here, carry the barrel... Fatass."

"Whatever."

This caught the other three's attention. If the REAL Jibroubou had responded, he would have told her to watch her manners. Kidumaru looked behind him.

"You're unusually obedient today, Jibroubou."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying, I can't let you carry the barrel, because you're not Jibroubou!"

The Jibroubou impersonator's face steeled as he pulled out a kunai and released the Henge revealing Shikamaru. Kidumaru threw the barrel to Tayuya, who twisted around to catch it.

"Sakon, Tayuya, take them and go! I'll handle this kid."

Tayuya smirked as she caught it, spinning back around before landing on the next branch, not braking her motion. After another few minutes of traveling, Tayuya turned to Sakon.

"Never mind the fat-ass, Jibroubou. What the hell is Kidumaru doing? The piece of shit."

Sakon turned to his teammate.

"He has a tendancy to play games with his opponent. It seems his oppenent is good, considering how long it's taking. However, once he gets to stage two, the oppoenent is as good as dead."

They continued their trip well into the night.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Close to the Fire/Rice Fields Border, That Evening:**

Sakon analysied their situation before turning to his teammate.

"It's already after dusk. It seems they've got their hand's full."

Tayuya didn't turn her head and made it clear she had been doing the same thing.

"That doesn't matter. What matters right now is Orochimaru-Sama. We've only managed to complete one third of the plan in a day."

"Yeah, it's not looking good. Even if all goes well, I'm not sure if we'll make it."

Tayuya suddenly noticed thumping against the barrel and looked at it oddly. She stopped on the neareest tree branch, signalling her teammate to stop too.

"Is it about to start?"

"No... It should take a bit longer, but..."

Sakon became awear of a large amount of hatred directed at him and turned to see the remainder of the kids looking at them. Sakon jumped off the branch at them, shouting manically.

"Ha! I'll kill them all in seconds!"

Tenten threw a kunai at Sakon's head, which he dodged with ease before continuing his flight at them with incredible speed, and announced his jutsu.

"Taren Ken!"

Sakon went for Shikamaru with the technique and punched through him to reveal it was a regular Bunshin. He continued on with the jutsu to reveal they were all either clones or Henged clones. Sakon went for the last remaining one, a boy with a white trench coat and glasses. He punched him to reveal he was real, or so he thought. The boy exploded into a shower of bugs, before Kiba used his jutsu to blast through the bugs, past Sakon and towards Tayuya. Tayuya made no attempt to dodge, but just stared at Kiba dumbly. Sakon couldn't see that Shikamaru had caught her in his Kagemane no Jutsu before he caught him too. Sakon couldn't dodge and crashed into Tayuya while Kiba picked the barrel up and hurled it to Tenten, who caught it. Shikamaru smiled.

"Mission success. Let's get out of here, guys."

Sakon grinned manically before activating the first level of the cursed seal, boosting his speed by an insane amount. He charged at them, quickly catching up. Akamaru planted an explosive note on a tree branch and attempted to catch back up, but his paw must have gotten stuck in the leaves from fear of the enemy's chakra level causing him to take less caution of his surroundings, because he fell over, causing Kiba to stop and go back, getting caught in the explosion as the tag went off. They were both thrown over into the chasm they had just past, as was Sakon. Tayuya growled and charged Tenten and Shikamaru, who were guarding the barrel.

"You little bastards-"

She was cut off when a graceful figure lept down behind them, snatching the barrel and landing on another tree branch.

"Kimimaro..."

"You're late, Tayuya. And where are the other three. You who were one of the Sound's 'Five'?"

Tayuya was trying to find out why Kimimaro could move. He should be confined to his bed.

"How can you move? Is your body-"

"I am moving on sheer will power alone."

"Damn, with one foot already in the grave..."

"I can understand a little bit now... This is the perception of an anthology life form that is no longer bound by the prison that is our body. It is as if I've touched the border of Orochimaru-Sama's dream."

Kimimaro placed a hand on the barrel to indicate his point.

"And these two are an important part of that dream... But you were a bit too late..."

Tayuya was awear that Kimimaro had dissapeared from in front of her and appeared leaning over her shoulder. Tayuya started quivering, giving the Konoha shinobi that this guy was immensly powerful.

"The reason I have yet to kill you is that you have a purpose to fulfil by staying alive. Kill these worthless pieces of trash."

Kimimaro took hold of the barrel and lept off towards the border. Shikamaru knew they couldn't pursue them much further, or they would be invading enemy territory. Tayuya prepared to face them, delaying them as long as she could to give Kimimaro a chance to cross the border to saftey.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**In a large Grassy Field Just up Ahead:**

Kimimaro landed and noticed that he had several pursuers. He turned around to see Tenten, Shino, Sakura, Ino and Hinata. Sakura and Hinata were making no effort to hide their fear, their knees shaking, while Shino, Tenten and Ino tried to moderate it. Kimimaro turned to them, looking at them with no expression on his face.

"Now, how should I cook these four?"

They all noticed that a white knife had suddenly appeared out of his shirt sleave. Tenten was preturbed. She was from Konoha's weapons expert family, yet she'd NEVER seen or heard of a knife like that one. She was shocked when he revealed it fully. It wasn't a knife, at least not in the way one would expect. It was a bone in the shape of a knife. Tenten opened a scroll and bit her thumb before throwing it up in the air, making it spin in a spiral. She jumped up into the middle of it and began dragging her hand over the Kanji to get weapons, which she prompty hurled at Kimimaro. Kimimaro brought the bone up in a defensive position. Tenten smirked. There was no way a bone could deflect-

Kimimaro brushed each weapon aside with the bone knife as if he was swatting away flies. Tenten gasped. No matter where the bone originated from, there was no way in hell it could block metal weapons! Kimimaro must have guessed this was what she was thinking.

"This is... The limit of my inheritance."

Shino's eyebrows creased in thought.

"Gekke Genkai?"

"Yes, it is a Bloodline Limit. It allows me to freely control the shape and density of my bones. Observe."

Kimimaro brought his hand out of the sleave and held it up in front of his body. Everyone was awear of snapping and clicking noises and also that Kimimaro's fingers where acting as if they were broken before straighting themselves again and repeating the process again. They also saw lumps moving up his forearm like there was something crawling under his skin. Finally, the movements reached a fevor pitch and bones burst from his forearm, surrounding his arm in dagger like spikes of bone, dripping liquid. Sakura blanched. If they had noticed, the barrel was beginning to fume with purple chakra. Kimimaro looked over his shoulder at the barrel.

"It's almost time... The first step of Orochimaru-Sama's ambition..."

Now, they all turned to the barrel as the tags on top broke and the barrel exploded. When the dust cleared, they saw Sasuke and Naruto, but it wasn't the way they were used to seeing them. Sasuke's hair was long and purple, spiking out everywhere. Naruto's hair was slightly longer, but it came down in a pony tail to the middle of his back. However, it was not it's usual sun kissed blonde colour. It was blood red. Both of them had claws for finger nails and their skin was a dark brown colour. The changes quickly reverted back to their old forms and their shoulders started to heave as someone would when they laugh. Both of them let out an unusually disturbing laugh before they charged off and continued towards the border. Sakura started towards them, but Kimimaro appeared behind her, ready to slice her head off with a deft stroke of the bone sword.

"Pathetic."

Shino grabbed the sword with his bugs and threw Kimimaro away. Kimimaro recovered to see that Tenten and Shino were in between him and Hinata, Ino and Sakura. Shino didn't look over his shoulder, but his body language made it clear he was going to address them, so they listened.

"Sakrua, Ino, Hinata. The three of you have a far better chance of stopping them than any of us did. None of us could compare to their levels of power. You were closer to them than we were. Try and delay them until we can back you up. I have just recived a message from my father that several Jounin are on their way to back us up as well."

"D-Demo, Shino-Kun-"

Tenten cut her off.

"Hinata, we don't have time. They are incredibly close to the Fire/Rice border. Once they cross it, we've lost them for good. Go!"

"G-Good luck..."

Hinata turned and left her teammate and friend there. Sakura and Ino followed her, dreading what they would find when they caught up.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**At the Valley of the End:**

Both Sasuke and Naruto had just crossed the statues that marked the Fire/Rice border. Once they got off the statue, they were home free, in a figurative sense. However, fate was not smiling on them today as they felt the presence of three people behind them on the other statue.

"Sasuke-Kun! Naruto!"

They ignored them and kept going. However, Naruto heard Hinata's remark and it made him stop.

"A-Are you running away... Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto didn't even complete his step, and neither did Sasuke. They slowly turned around in opposite directions, stopping before the left side of Sasuke's face amd the right side of Naruto's face was revealed. They turned to fully face them, all three girls gasping in horror. The left side of Sasuke's face and the right side of Naruto's face had the cursed seal covering it, but what was the most frightening was their left and right eye. Naruto's right and Sasuke's left eye were completely transformed. The whites were black, and the iris was a sickly yellow. Ino looked at them angrily.

"Do you know that our friends sacrificed their lives to get to you?"

Sasuke looked bored and held out a hand at his side for effect.

"How nice of them."

"Even so, It's only after we pull something like this that we get recognition, and not the kind we want. Our childish games with you and Konoha are over."

"Why does it matter to you? Neither of us will let anyone lead our lives for us. Especially not Konoha. Go home. Now."

The three girls flinched at the words. It was the closest either of them had ever told any of them to get lost. Both Sasuke and Naruto turned to leave, but were aware of a slight displacement in the air, signalling that something was being thrown at them. They turned around and caught the shuriken on their fingers, letting them spin before dropping to the ground. Ino screamed at them.

"What about your comrades back in the leaf? Did you forget them?"

"Did we get any stronger by staying with those 'comrades' as you call them? We're going to Orochimaru."

Ino jumped across and tried to slap Naruto, but had her hand held onto by Sasuke.

"If you hit him, I will kill you."

Ino pulled back and Sasuke let her. The other girls managed to overcome their fears and get next to Ino, staring at the object of their affection. Hinata tried to speak up.

"N-Naruto-Kun... Y-You used to try s-So hard at the Academy... W-Why did you change?"

Naruto smirked at Hinata.

"You really didn't notice? Was Sasuke the only one who was able to notice? And to think that your crush on me had the slighest chance of turning out differently from those trashy Sasuke fan girls. How wrong I was. Hinata, let me tell you something now. Don't get involved in something you cannot fathom. How couldany womanpossibly 'love' a demon? You fell in love with a mask, something that didn't really exist. There was never a 'dobe' Naruto. That was completely a facade I put on to live up to Konoha's extremely low expectations of me. It made my life a hell of alot eaiser when I lived up to their expectations of me to fail everything. I could have past the Academy Genin exam 4 years ago. Hell, I would be a Chunin or possibly even a Jounin now if I really wanted to, however, the villagers would have scorned me more. Get used to it, Hinata. The Uzumaki Naruto you loved never existed."_'Oh my god did that feel good or what? I've always wanted to see Naruto chew Hinata out for her crush on him in a fic. I think this is actually a world first!'_

Hinata was actually crying when she heard her idol chew her out like that. The other girls went to support Hinata, making Sasuke laugh. They looked at him as he smiled evilly.

"You two are exactly the same to me as Hinata is to Naruto. You two were and still are more concerened about who could get me into bed first than my actual feelings. Cupboard love, how pathetic. Sakura, remember that time in the hosptial when Naruto warned you that if you kept it up, I would kill you, and you scoffed at him for it? He was telling the truth. You were blind to my warning signs I was giving off and you insisted you treat me like a baby by attempting to hand feed me. I was so close to using the kunai I had in my hand on you. The only thing that stopped me was Naruto using body language to tell me we could do it later. I think that the 'later' he was referring to is 'now'."

Sasuke punched Sakura in the gut sending her flying into the lake. Ino and Hinata looked at Sasuke in horror at the amount of power he had used. Sasuke looked at his hand with amuzement.

"It's great isn't it?"

"Yeah... This is what I've been looking for..."

Naruto was also looking at his hand with a simmilar look on his face to Sasuke. Sasuke suddenly winced as the cursed seal retreated back to it's position on his neck and his eye returned to normal. Naruto started to go over to Sasuke when he froze and winced as his cursed seal began moving back and his eye also returned to normal. Sasuke started chuckling manically.

"If that was how much power I had with just that, I wonder what would happen if I released the seal..."

Ino and Hinata were becoming very scared. Naruto looked past them to where they had come from.

"Looks like more of them are here."

Ino and Hinata turned around to see a very beaten Tenten and Shino hoping over the monuments to stand next to their friends. Naruto sighed heavily for dramatic effect.

"You guys don't get it do you? We're not going back. No matter how many of you there are, you can't win."

Although in most stories, the bad guys always said that and they still lost, this time, it would take more than a mirical for that to come true. Sasuke made some minor body language movements for Naruto. Shino, being the silent type, easily picked these up and sent his bugs at Naruto which he looked amuzed at before he formed a few hand seals and announced his jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The bugs were surrounded by the flames, being completely disintergrated. Shino jumped out of the way as did the other Konoha Genin. Naruto looked at them.

"You know, a man once said to me that you're not ninja until you've been through many life or death experiences. Tell me, how many lives have each of you taken? Not too long ago, I already had my hands stained with the blood of more lives than a platoon of ANBU would in a year."

They froze in fear, which was the effect Naruto desired. Tenten broke out of it and charged Naruto. Naruto made no effort to dodge as she punched him in the face. She siled silently to herself before she realised something. Naruto had absorbed 90 percent of the impact as if it was nothing and looked back at her. Tenten punched him again and again, until her knuckles were covered in his blood. She stopped, realising that this wasn't getting her anywhere and Naruto spoke softly to her.

"Is this all you've got? If it is, I won't have to use 'it'."

Tenten looked at him in confusion.

"It?"

"Kyubi."

"Don't underestimate me!"

Tenten aimed another punch but Naruto caught it with his eyes closed.

"I'm not underestimating you. I'm probably overestimating you. If I had kept playing games with you-"

Naruto threw Tenten away with his hand and shot after her, kicking her with a sickening combo in the gut, before slamming her into the ground, landing lightly beside her.

"I would never have gotten this much power."

Sasuke took advantage of the other's momentary distraction to perform a combo on Shino. He knocked him forwards, then proceeded to body flicker around him, smashing every which way before finally kicking him into the far monument of the Shodaime Hokage. Sasuke body flickered back up to the others, as did Naruto. They grinned at them

"You can't beat us."

"No, but we can."

Naruto and Sasuke looked up to see a group of four Jounin on the other stone momument. Naruto silently cursed himself for toying with the Genin. Naruto looked at Sasuke and nodded. They engaged the first level of their cursed seals and Sasuke activated his Sharingan, charging at the Jounins, who started using jutsus. Sasuke saw one that looked interesting and copied it, sending it back at him.

"KATON: KARYU ENDAN!"

The jutsus cancelled each other out, leaving Sasuke to engage his target in Taijutsu. Naruto had gone straight into Taijutsu and began attacking his target. The Genin looked on in wonder as the two of them held their own against four Jounin. However, after a few minutes, it became clear that the Jounins were gaining a slight edge over the two. Naruto didn't like where this was going. They had one option left, considering Kyubi was unable to lend it's chakra to him because it was taken up to prevent the Cursed Seal from taking over his mind. Naruto body flickered behind Hinata and Sasuke behind Ino, they smiled at the girls, who realised they were done for. Sasuke was going to take extreme pleasure in this, but Naruto felt a twinge of guilt, which he quickly crushed.

"Sumani, Hinata."

Hinata smiled weakly that Naruto had the decency to feel guilty for what he was about to do, but prepared as Naruto hit her over the back of the neck, thinking he had knocked her unconcious, but she had put enough chakra into her neck to avoid being knocked out. But she would still be immobile. Now that the threat of the Genin taking them out after they used Cursed Seal level two, they looked back at the Jounins. Nartuo noticed that Sasuke now had the third comma in his Sharingan.

"It's about time we tried the full extent of our powers."

The cursed seal marks glowed orange and red before expanding and combining, turning their skin brown. Sasuke's hair turned a sickly purple colour while Naruto's turned blood red. Both of their hair extended in size. Sasuke's grew everywhere in long quill like spines while Naruto's hair mostly just lengthened a tiny bit except for the hair on the back of his head, which lengthened into a pony tail. They both grew claws. When they opened their eyes, the Jounins were shocked to see that the whites of their eyes had turned black. Sasuke's Sharingan was still activated while Naruto's irises had turned blood red with snake like pupils. Sasuke had a black cross over his nose while Naruto's ears had lengthened slightly. His whisker marks had darkened like when he lost control. Both of them had extended cainines. Sasuke's lips were purple. They smiled and motioned for the Jounin to come. The four of them charged and slammed Sasuke and Naruto into the wall, smirking. Thinking that the Genin had no chance of surviving such a blow, they waited to inspect their handy work. Once the dust cleared, they got a major shock. Sasuke was covered by what looked like some sort of grey cocoon, while Naruto had deflected the attacks from his two Jounin with a set of red tails. The tails' tips were black. Both Genin's appendages made a movement, alerting the Jounins who tried to jump back, but were far too late. They were slammed out of the way and into the opposite wall. When they recovered, they saw that Sasuke had sprouted a hand like wing. Naruto had sprouted a pair of tails. Both Genins moaned in pain as their other appendages shot out. Sasuke sprouted his other wing while Naruto's remaining seven tails sprouted in quick succession. Naruto fell forward onto all fours while Sasuke crouched. The Jounins looked at them in pure utter horror. Sasuke gritted his teeth as pain courced through his body. Luckily for Naruto, Kyubi took care of that for him. Naruto looked at the Jounin.

"Let me tell you something. We're going to let you live, however, we want you to convey a messange to Konoha for us. If you ever send people to retrieve us or attack us, we'll kill them."

Naruto bounded at the Jounin while Sasuke flew at them. They proceeded to beat their happles targets with brutal punch-kick combos, keeping them alive enough to return their message, but not alive enough to give chase. Once they had knocked all of them unconcious, they reverted back to their normal forms. Naruto and Sasuke slowly walked up the side of the monument with the last of their chakra and trudged into the Country of Rice Fields, leaving nothing but painful memories behind. Moments later, it began raining heavily and Kakashi arrived to survey the damage. He saw people scattered everywhere, but with minimal blood loss. He thanked which ever god was listening that Sasuke and Naruto had let them live and waited for the medical squads to arrive.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**The Next Day:**

Both Sasuke and Naruto had trudged slowly down the beaten path into the Rice Field Country. Early the next morning, they were spotted by a platoon of Oto nins, who when they saw them, made a bee line for them. Naruto and Sasuke looked up at them. The nins bowed politely before conversing with them.

"Sasuke-Sama, Naruto-Sama. All Oto nins were told to be on the look out for you. Anyone who encountered them was to immediately take them back to the Village. Are you able to walk?"

"We're fine. Just lead the way..."

The Oto nin nodded and they took up flanking positions around the two. They led them through the closest town where they stopped for a quick meal before pressing onwards. The Oto nins lead them out of the town and off the road. Naruto and Sasuke became wary as they left the road, but they were put at ease when they saw a second group of Oto nins jump out of the trees. The leaders of the platoons conversed quickly before the newcomers looked at the two boys.

"Orochimaru-Sama is expecting you. The village is just up ahead."

The platoon that was initially guarding them exchanged places with the new ones, which led them for another 30 minutes before they arrived at a set of stairs sunken into the ground which ended at a door. The Oto nins at the door nodded and waved them through. They lead them down the stairs and through a maze of corridors before they got to a room where the Oto nins stopped. The leader looked at them.

"We are not permitted to come in here unless in the case of an emergency. This is Orochimaru-Sama's sitting room. Please go in."

The Oto nin opened the door, letting Sasuke and Naruto inside before quiety shutting it. They saw Kabuto standing next to a man who they could tell was Orochimaru, despite his different look. Naruto looked at Kabuto.

"I had a feeling there wasn't something quite right about you."

Kabuto smiled uneasily as Oroachimaru laughed.

"It's been a while, Sasuke-Kun. Nartuo-Kun."

Kabuto turned around, grabbing robes from behind him and handing them to Sasuke and Naruto. They both gladly put them on and turned back to Orochimaru.

"Sasuke-Kun. You are my chosen one-"

"I don't care. Hurry up and give me power."

Kabuto made his way over to Sasuke and whispered in his ear.

"Even though his appearance may be different, the person before you is THE Orochimaru-Sama. If you don't want to die, watch your mouth."

Both Sasuke and Naruto let of an incredible spike of chakra which caught Kabuto comeptely by suprise. He recoiled and stared in dibelief at the boys. Orochimaru looked at them in the sort of way a person would look at the prize of a competition they had just won. Orochimaru had Kabuto give them a meal and showed them to their future sleeping chambers.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**First Year:**

Nothing much unexpected happened during the first year. They trained, ate, slept and studied while they were changing locations regularly. Orochimaru had insisted they both learn how to handle a sword properly, and so they were taught Kenjutu by a host of different people. After some training with the level two seal, he formulated his plan to get Sasuke's free will back. To any regular person, Sasuke would have appeared as if he had free will, however, on much closer inspection, Sasuke had lost only a fragment, the part that would let him do anything to Orochimaru more serious than back chat him. Most of his free time was spent trying to fugure out how to modify the kunai so he could use Hiraishin. After their first month, Naruto opproached Orochimaru.

"What seems to be the problem, Naruto-Kun?"

"I want to try and find a way to allow our Cursed Seals to partially activate at level two without the masive chakra drain and other side effects."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I personally like having my tails, lengthened ears and a few of the other physical attributes of the Cursed Seal level two. I also know Sasuke like it to. If it is possible, it would help intimidate oppenents, and theoretically it would only require a small portion of the chakra it usually does. It might even require less chakra to use the Cursed Seal should I be successful."

Orochimaru thought over it for a moment before smiling behind the bandages.

"Very well, Naruto-Kun. If you are successful in your research, please report to me before you use it. Ask Kabuto for acces to the research records."

"Sure."

After that, Naruto had dedicated his time to both modifying the kunai and researching the cursed seal when he wasn't required to do other things. Kyubi had managed to get the cursed seal to stop growing to the point where it only couldn't talk when Naruto activated either level one or two of the seal, which was when it would start trying to regrow. Having a demon that had been around for eons helped dramatically increase the speed of both research. Naruto could only thank the gods that Orochimaru had no clue why he was REALLY researching it. Orochimaru probably thought that since Naruto had been forced to the second stage of the cursed seal, he really was brainwashed. Naruto tested out the limits of Sasuke's free will very carefully before he determined that the loss of free will would not make Sasuke turn against Naruto if he told him what he was doing. It seemed that only direct threats to Orochimaru were taken seriously, so Naruto told Sasuke about half a year into their stay as best he could through body language. The parts he couldn't, he expressed in one or two words. Sasuke smiled at him, which Naruto took as a good sign. Naruto was extremely worried for days after that episode to see if Sasuke would snitch on him, but he hadn't. Sasuke could tell Naruto was fearful and made one of their blood promises. Naruto had found out that even Orochimaru's attempt to break Sasuke's free will would not break Sasuke's will to keep his blood promises. Naruto dilligantly kept up the research well into the next year.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Year Two:**

Halfway though their second year under Orochimaru's tutalage, Naruto made an amazing break through. Naruto had thought that he would have to somehow make a second alteration to gain back Sasuke's free will, but amazingly, the cursed seal relied on short sharp bursts of corrupted chakra to steadily corrupt the mind. Naruto had known this for a long time when he made the discovery with majot input from Kyubi. They had found that the Cursed seal can only corrupt the mind if the person continuously subconciously submits to it. The seal seems to somehow make people continually give in, however, that was only during the first 2 years of use of the second level of the cursed seal at level tow. After that, there was no escape. Naruto worked frantically to find some sort of way to reverse that. He silently wished he had dragged Ino here with him so she could do it, however, he had only his and Kyubi's power to work on. Naruto raced against the clock, slowly formulating a overlapping seal to do what he needed. The problem was that the seal needed to be strong enough to break the stranglehold over a person's will, but be subtle enough to avoid detection. The answer came from a suprising source. On one particular evening, Naruto wass looking back over the previous versions of the cursed seal. Naruto noticed that the way each seal got it's bearer to subconciously submit was different. The very early version of the seals practically ripped all forms of free will away. Each version after that made the removal of the free will far less noticable. The 'Heaven' Seal, which both Naruto and Sasuke had had one minor flaw in it. Each 'Heaven' Seal had a small piece of Orochimaru's soul in it, and if the piece of the soul itself was sealed, the stranglehold over the seal's bearer would be broken, and Orochimaru would be none the wiser. Kyubi wracked it's brains for a possible seal to use and told Naruto to do his own research.

With several months left until the deadline, Naruto found all the parts he needed. The way to get the Cursed Seal level two to stay partially active at all times and the seal to seal the part of Orochimaru's soul. The final problem was combining them into a new seal. Naruto worked at it for the next month before he found the answer. He approached Orochimaru with the seal as he looked over it. He dismissed Naruto, saying he would think about it overnight. The next morning, Orochimaru gave the go ahead on one condition. That he watch the jutsu. Naruto agreed and led Sasuke, Orochimaru and Kabuto into the dojo and sat Sasuke down, telling him to release the cursed seal level 2. Naruto instructed Sasuke to think clearly about the parts he wanted to keep active, telling him that he would have to unseal it and then reseal it with any new changes. Naruto began forming a long chain of and seals before placing his palm on the cursed seal.

"Partial Cursed Seal Release!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as throbs of pain shot through his body. The skin colour returned to normal, the hair size and shape returned to normal, still retaining it's purple hue the black cross on his nose dissapeared, the whites of his eyes returned to white, his lips returned to their normal colour and his wings withdrew. All Sasuke had really kept was his hair colour, fangs and nails. Orochimaru inspected the seal to find that in between the three comma marks a small blue circle had formed. After inspecting it, he found it to his satisfaction.

"Very well done, Naruto-Kun. I assume you would want to perform it on yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Then please do."

Naruto nodded releasing his cursed seal level two. Naruto concerntraited as he formed the long chain of hand seal and placed his hand on the seal.

"Partial Cursed Seal Release!"

Naruto girtted his teeth as his eyes retuned to normal apart from the snake like pupils, as did his skin colour and hair colour. He had basically retained most of it. It indeed made him look like a demon Naruto panted and described how to do activate the changes and also deactivate them. Orochimaru smiled and looked at Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun-"

Naruto interruped Orochimaru.

"No can do. We're the only ones you gave the Heaven seal to, and this will only work on the heaven seal. The others are far too different to use this on."

"I see. Continue your theoretical studies for the rest of today."

Naruto and Sasuke retired to the library where they each worked on perfecting what they hoped would be their signature moves. Nartuo's was obviously the Hiraishin. Sasuke was trying to modify the Chidori. Naruto looked up at Sasuke who looked at him. Sasuke already knew what Naruto wanted to know, smiled and gave a tiny nod. Naruto's heart lept. They could begin the next stage of their plans at will. However, Orochimaru was still more useful alive than dead. By the end of the year, Naruto had worked out how to change three quarters of the tag for the Hirashin over the last two years. Nartuo was looking at the seal and at the book of scrolls on his lap. Nartuo almost choked, catching Sasuke's attention.

"Holy..."

"Find another part?"

"No... I found the rest of it."

Sasuke boggled at Naruto. He'd found the last quarter of the tag in a single seal? Sasuke leaned over his arm chair and saw what Naruto was looking at. The double page contained seveal seals of differing variaties. When Sasuke looked at the tag on the kunai and then at the pages, he didn't see the connetion. He looked up at Naruto. Naruto smiled back.

"The last quarter is the physical appearance and personalisation of the tag. Look at the pages carefully."

Sasuke did and noticed something. The physical appearance on the tag meant the physical manifestation of the jutsu. However, no seals on the page had anything to do with manifesting, until Sasuke saw half way down the page as his eyes past over the theoretical part of a nondescript seal the explination of changing physical appearances of objects through the use of seals. Sasuke looked back at the tag and then at the page again, confirming it. Naruto then pointed to something on the other page, which Sasuke read was a theoretical exercise on how summoing contract signing worked. Sasuke looked up as Naruto withdrew a caligraphy brush and ink bottle, pulling out his own unique tag that was almost finished. Looking carefully at the book, Naruto finished the tag and wrapped around the kunai he had a smith make for just this moment. Naruto looked at Sasuke, nodded and threw the kunai at the wall. He felt himself being pulled to the Kunai by some mysterious force and before he knew it, he was at the wall. He hadn't even seen himself move. He looked back at Sasuke who stared wide eyed in disbelif. Just then, the door burst open and Kabuto charged in.

"What are you doing summoning in-"

Kabuto took stock of the situation, seeing their faces and turned to Naruto.

"So, you completed it, did you, Naruto-Kun? Congratulations."

Orochimaru made his way into the library, obviously drawn there by the chakra spike. Kabuto turned to Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama, Nartuo-Kun just completed the Hiraishin..."

Orochimaru smiled.

"Show me."

Naruto took the kunai out of the wall and threw it at the far wall, flashing over to the wall in a streak of red light. Orochimaru smiled widely.

"Well done, Naruto-Kun."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Third Year:**

Early during the third year, Kyubi had called Naruto to the cage for a talk. These talks weren't exactly common, nut they were'nt extremely rare either. Naruto got down to the cage and saw the fox had a rather unusual look on it's face. It had the usual smile plastered to it's chops, so Naruto stood in front of it.

"What is it this time?"

"**Straight to the point, hm? Remember during the fight with Shukaku, he addressed me as Kyubi-Hime?"**

Naruto had completely forgotten about it.

"Yeah. So, gonna tell me the story?"

Kyubi looked thoughtful for a moment.

**"There really isn't much of a story. I just love destroying things. The fact is that all of us had to prove we were worthy as one of the nine demon lords, so we were occassionally tasked with taking out a human village or two. Severed two purposes. One was to prove we still had what it takes, and the other was to stop you humans from overpopulating."**

"Why the hell would that matter to you?"

**"Kit, we have reasons for everything. Do you really think weare completely self sufficient in hell?"**

Naruto had never thought of that.

**"Well, we aren't. Every now and then, Hell starts running out of souls to tourture. I don't know why humans think once you go to Hell you stay there for all eternint. What crap. Once you serve your sentence, we kick you out and you're, as you humans call it, reincarnated. Unfortunately, the rate of those getting reincarnated is more than those who come to hell naturally, so we... Speed the intake up."**

Kyubi let this settle for a minute, waiting for Naruto's answer. She didn't get the one she expected.

"The only thing I have to say is I'm kind of pissed off that you didn't tell me earlier."

"**Not going to mock me?"**

"Why the hell would I do that? I've seen what you can do. The fact that you're female, or that you go on destruction bingesdoesn't change much."

The Kyubi looked down at the boy with renewed interest. Most of the humans she had introduced herself to as a female in ages past just scoffed at her. Yet, he was only annoyed that she had hi d the fact? For once, the Kyubi didn't have a smart reply. One just didn't seem necessary.

"**Just don't go spreading that around, I don't need my reputation ruined."**

"Sure thing. Later."

Kyubi didn't get to say anything as Naruto dissapeared from his mindscape. Naruto had quickly tod Sasuke what had happened, who looked at him like he had grown an extra head. Sasuke was rather amused by the whole truth or dare incident. Naruto didn't reveal the truth to anyone else, and they continued on with life. Kyubi had called Naruto down to the cage with incresing regularity. They talked of a lot of things. Their relationship grew slowly beyond a prisoner/jailor relationship and into one of mutual understanding. Sasuke and Naruto had been planning their escape for the last year. Orochimaru was well guarded at all times. The only way they could catch him off guard would be if someone were to invade. Luckily, they got their wish half way through the year. Orochimaru and Kabuto said they were going to 'tidy up some lose ends'. Naruto and Sasuke decided to sleep in for once, having nothing better to do. What they weren't expecting was one of them to open the door and try to make an advance on Sasuke. Sasuke growled.

"What do you want?"

"I've been exposed, haven't I? However... I have already made the first move."

Naruto sighed.

"What is your objective?"

"I am here to... Rescue you and return to Konoha."

"..."

"Although in the beginning, I was supposed to come here and kill you. I am going to protect Sakura-Chan's bonds."

"Bonds? You woke us up... To talk about bonds?"

That did it. They were 'woken up' to have a chat about bonds? Both Naruto and Sasuke grabbed their swords and demolished their room with a simple jutsu, standing on top of the demolished room in the daylight. Soon enough, Sakura, another black haired Jounin and some other white haired boy appeared. Sakura was on the verge of tears. Naruto sighed. Sakura really hadn't changed much. Naruto began activating the partial cursed seal, releasing his tails, lengthening his hair and growing fangs and claws. Sasuke released his partial cursed seal as well. Naruto's tails waved in the wind, twitching in what Sasuke recognised as excitement.akura spoke first.

"Sasuke-Kun..."

Naruto couldn't stop himself from slapping his forehead.

"You haven't learnt after three years have you? He was never the precious 'Sasuke-_Kun_' you knew. For the supposed smartest person of our year, you're pretty dense, you know?"

Sasuke backed him up.

"Naruto's right. Even he's smarter than you, the 'dobe' of the class. We don't have time to mess with you."

Naruto picked one of his special kunai out of his pocket and hurled it near the front of them. They looked at it and then at Naruto. Naruto smiled and turned into a red streak that flashed down in front of the white haired boy, who was trembling.

"Was that..."

"Yes and no. Yes it was the Hiraishin, but no it wasn't the Yondaime's version. So, you're supposed to be my replacement? You fail."

Naruto began unsheathing his sword.

"Shi-ne."

Naruto brought the sword down, only to have the one who had disturbed them block it with his sword. Sasuke smirked.

"One guard passes."

Sasuke body flickered down in the middle of the group and smirked.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

Sasuke's entire body was covered by an extended Chidori. Sakura, the Jounin and the two boys were fried and thrown away, smoke coming off their clothing.

Sasuke started forming a hand seal. Naruto liked where this was going. Just as Sasuke raised his hand to activate the jutsu, Orochimaru appeared and grabbed his hand. Nartuo had to stop his smile widening.

"Don't use that jutsu."

"Let go. Now."

Unfortunately, Kabuto had decided to join the party.

"Hey, you're speaking like that to Orochimaru again."

"I've got no reason to be stopped."

"You also know what Akatsuki is doing. We want these people to manage Akasuki for us. Every little bit helps. If they hinder the other Akatsuki, your revenge will alos get easier."

"What a pitiful reason."

"It's to help with your revenge, isn't it? It's to improve your succes rate by 1 percent, isn't it?"

Sasuke relaxed and Orochimaru dropped his hand. Nartuo turned to the Konoha ninjas.

"We'll meet again."

Orochimaru brought forth a wall of purple flames to hide their escape. They had started running to their next appointed hide out. Luckily, it was only the four of them. Nartuo made a slight twitch of his head to indicate they should start. Nartuo increased his speed slightly, using a special Kenjutsu to stab his sword through Kabuto's back. Kabuto tried to futily block it with a kunai, however, both of their swords could not be blocked due to their design. It shattered the kunai and punctured Kabuto's lung. Orochimaru stopped, looking at them in interest. Naruto decided not to underestimat Kabuto's healing abilities and cut off his head. This is where the fight would really start. Orochimaru attempted to make them both submit via the cursed seals, but was shocked when the seals didn't respond.

"Impossible!"

"Do you really think my modification of the cursed seals was only for looks? You're pretty stupid for the genius of the Sannin."

Both Naruto and Sasuke charged. Nartuo brought out a good deal of his special kunai and littered the area with them. Orochimaru had brought out his own sword and had begun engaging Sasuke in Kenjutsu. Naruto flashed towards a kunai that Orochimaru was being forced back to and tried to attack from behind. Orochimaru deflected the attack and then went back to attacking Sasuke. Although Orochimaru had taught both of them, he was still far better than either one of them. Together though, they had unrivalled co ordination. Swords danced though the air, clanging against each other before the wielders moved back into ready stances for the briefest moment before going into another strike. Orochimaru went in for a strike when he saw an opening that Sasuke had intentionally made. Sasuke parried and redirected the blow, causing Orochimaru to lose balance for a moment. A moment was all Naruto needed. He body flickered forward and slashed Orochimaru's head cleanly off. Nartuo stared at the body, which was still twitching.

"Your spirit may be immortal, but even if you lose your head, you'll still die, right?"

The only answer Naruto got was the body stopped twitching. Both Naruto and Sasukenoticed thattheir cursed seals pulsed and the small sealed part of Orochimaru's soul died, leaving them with thecursed seals with nobrainwashing attempts.Naruto picked up Orochimaru's head while Sasuke picked up Kabuto's. They placed a special sealing jutsu they had been taught on th heads to stop the DNA from self destructing as it did when the body died. They had carried out many assassinations in their stay with Orochimaru, so learning this jutsu was essential. Naruto pulled out two duffel bags, handing one to Sasuke, which he put Kabuto's head in. Naruto put Orochimaru's head in the other and they both sealed them. Naruto sighed. They had more than enough money to survive a year without doing missions, but the price on these two would extend that further. IT was only a matter of who would pay the most for it. Naturally, since Orochimaru had a hatred for Konoha, and showed it with his history of picking off Konoha nins at whim, they would most likely pay the highest price. Naruto and Sasuke knew there was a town close to here, where they could get a messenger bird to takke the message of Orochimaru's death there. Naruto turned to Sasuke who was thinking the same thing.

"First thing though, we seriously gotta get some new clothes."

Sasuke smirked. It was settled. The second phase of their plans had been completed. Naruto quickly collected his special kunai from around the area and then followed Sasuke through the light forest towards the village.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Sorry if this chapter was vague, but I did say I would only include the most important parts of their three years with Orochimaru. Also, sorry if the fight scenes were a bit undescriptive.


	9. Naruto & Sasuke, Partners in Crime

**A/N:** Yo! I couldn't possibly ask you guys to slow down reviewing could I? I never get a chance to update my other story because of all the reviews for this one. Anywho, it's great that you love this story so much. One thing people, it's not certain if there's a lvl 3 Cursed Seal. At the moment, it's purely speculation as to it's existance, therefore for all intents and purposes, it doesn't exist until it's used in the manga. Finally, this is it people! LEMON! I'm not posting the full, graphic version on FF, but I will on MM, so FF fans, please forgive the shortness of the chapter. BTW, during the Lemon, Kyubi and Naruto's relationship takes a massive leap forward. The story may or may not make sense should you not read the full version. As a final note, I REALLY couldn't be bothered coming up with some deep and meaningful reason Kyubi attacked Konoha. I really couldn't. If you want, I can change it to one I preapred after I had uploaded the chapter. Also, I've redone the last chapter where Kyubi reveals she's female into something more... Believeable, by popular demoand. I'll get onto the Questions/Comments/Suggestions:

**sadfru:** Well, when the bearer of a cursed seal eats one of those pills, assuming they survive, it'll dramatically increase their power both physically and chakra wise. However, to activate, the Cursed Seal requires a massive amount of energy in the form of the person's chakra. So it's both good and bad. As for Stage 3, read the top paragraph.

**FairyQuilan:** He's well and trully pushing up the daisies. He was still under the three year ban from using the jutsu just before Sauske got there, so they caught him at a good time. Also, Orochimaru had his head cut off. No being in Naruto can regrow a head, even if it was the Kyubi.

**Del'Cera Osirin:** Yo! I have to say, I'm looking forward to your reviews more and more. You seem to know a lot about Naruto Lore. I'm not sure how Orochimaru's curse really works, apart from the fact it takes away your free will and gives you power. The way I theorised it is that Orochimaru has to implant a bit of his soul into the seal as well as chakra. Well, it is fiction, so anything goes, I guess. I just did this to fit with the needs of my plot. Well, if they come bareing the head of their number one and number two enemies, I would think they'd let them go for now.

**madnarutofan:** The Chidori Current is an offical move that Sasuke uses in the manga. The modified Hiraishin is mine.

**Kyuubi-Sama:** Questions: 1: Everywhere.

2: No.

3: No.

4: Stop asking!

**jozs001:** Yo! Your English is better than some of my other reviewers who's main language is English, so no problem. Thanks for the review!

**TrapedSoul:** Um, who did you mean when you said 'no reason to go with them'? Also when you said a question and a comment, where exactly in the review was the question? I haven't seen a single other person complain about it. From my two most recent stories, the ONLY two positive comments you've made for them are that my use of Body Flicker is 'cool' and that 'its a good begining'. Apart from that, it's been pretty much all negative.

**firareth3:** Looking back on it, I'll admit I overlooked that. Kind of like one of those 'oh, yeah forgot to mention the world's going to explode in ten seconds. No big deal though.' Things. Yeah, Tsunade declined. Sorry for the confusion.

**Vegita the 3rd:** Serious? DAMN! I wanted to be the first to do it... Oh well, thanks for pointing that fic out, I'll read it sometime soon, I hope. As for residing in the Sound Village, I don't think that it's entirely... Plausable, considering they killed the leader and his right hand man of Oto. There'd be a lot of people still loyal to him. Also, my story is going to start concerntraiting on Sasuke and Naruto as travelling Nukenins.

**Zaivon:** At the moment, none, thankfully.

**Katana Haibane:** It depends. Sasuke wants Naruto to help him in his revenge, but they also have to take care of the rest of Akatsuki. From there, who knows?

Hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Biju thoughts...'_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 7:

Naruto & Sasuke, Partners in Crime:

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**That Evening:**

Sasuke and Naruto arrived in town as dusk settled in. The guards at the gate cowered in fear at the sight of high ranking Oto nins when they saw the purple rope belts. They smiled at them.

"We're not Oto nins anymore. We need to use your messenger birds."

"What makes you think we're going to let you in?"

Naruto sighed and pulled out his duffel bag, holding it up.

"In here is Orochimarui's head. In the one my friend is carrying is his right hand man's head. Want to see them?"

They nodded and Naruto showed them the bag. They saw the long black hair and white face, and confirmed it wasn't a henged object. They nodded, slightly afraid of the boy's power, but waved them through. The one on the left called to them.

"Please report this to the village elder."

"Sure."

They walked in, ignoring the worried glances from the villagers. They had deactivated their partial cursed seals long before they got here to avoid suspicion. They walked up to the largest hut in the village, which they assumed was the elder's hut. The guard outside saw them and waved them inside, obviously, the guards at the gate had communicated with him somehow. They stepped inside. The room was filled with the sweet smell of incense, and had beads everywhere. They didn't see anyone there so they stood in the centre of the room. They saw some shadow's shift, and they focused on thearea they had seen the movment. They heard a soft chuckling.

"No need to be on guard. I am but an old man. Please, take a seat."

They took the seats offered, which were esentially pillows on the floor. Now that their eyes were used to the dark, they could make out a small man with a bald head and a very long white beard.

_'Probably to make up for what he lacks on top.'_

Naruto heard Kyubi snickering in the back of his mind and tried hard to supress a grin. The man smiled at them.

"So, you two are the ones who killed the thing known as Orochimaru... I may be old, but I know power when I see it. It would have taken incredible power to achive. However, I did not call for you to inflate your egos, I requested you here for something else. Orochimaru's men have been raiding our village's crop fields recently. I woul think this will put a stop to it. I was told you need a messenger bird. That can wait until morning. For now, I would like to extend my hospitality to the pair of you for helping us."

"Thank you."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The man continued.

"We will shortly have a room prepared for you. We do not have enough space for two rooms, unfortunately."

"That's fine, we always sleep in the same room any way. Also, could we request a change of clothes?Orochimaru may have known how to lead a village, but he had no taste in fashion."

The old man chuckled.

"Easy enough. We will have a bird and a choice of clothing ready for you tomorrow. Thank you again."

"No problem. By the way, please don't make this into a big ceremony. We're trying to keep a low profile."

The man nodded.

"Understandable. Sleep well."

They got up, bowed and left. There was a second guard outside who motioned for them to follow. They were led to a small hut not too far away and the guard turned to them.

"Our village has communal breakfast at 7 am every morning. Please be at the hall by then."

The guard pointed to a long building not too far away. They nodded and went inside. They set their swords down, and began stripping before ending up in their boxer shorts. Luckily, there was two beds here. They didn't want to give them any ideas if there was only one bed. They went to bed, entering their state of semi sleep they had learnt to use when sleeping in dangerous places. 'Sleep' wasn't really the correct term for it. It was actually about 70 percent conciousness and 30 percent sleep. After a few years of learning, they found out that a body could be trained to enter a lighter state of sleep and still perform as well as if it had gotten a full night's sleep. They heard guards walking past their hut seveal times that night with regular intervals in between, which they presumed was the village's night watch. Just before the dawn broke, they got up, dressed and sat on the roof to watch the sun rise, which they hadn't done in a while. The village had a great view of the eastern horizon, meaning they had an unfettered view of the light. The sky turned from inky black to the odd purple that was twilight. It slowly turned orange, then red, and finally, sky blue. They continued to stare at it for a while until the sun had fully risen over the horizon. Naruto checked his watch. 6 55 am. Naruto got up, as did Sasuke. They walked through the village, aware the villagers were no longer frightful. Their eyes held something else... Gratitude? It was very foreign to both boys. They had never really been 'thanked' by so many people. Even if they gathered up everyone who had thanked them in their entire lives combined, it would still fall well short of the number they had seen so far today. They walked into the hall, which everyone else seemed to be doing who was still outside. When they walked inside, all talking stopped. All faces turned to them with bright smiles on their face. Naruto and Sasuke walked over to what appeared to be the serving counter, grabbed a bowl each and walked to the first table they could find. People shoved up to create room for the two boys, which they uneasily accepted. Everyone seemed nervous, which Naruto and Sasuke started getting uncomfortable from. They could understand their fear, but it was unsettling while they were eating. Sasuke looked up.

"We don't attack unless attacked first or you're one of our targets, none of which are anywhere near here."

This dispelled a lot of the nervousness, but not all of it. Naruto shifted slightly, catching their attention.

"You can talk to us. The only reason we're silent is we can communicate almost perfectly through body language. We have very little use for words between each other anymore."

Talking gradualy resumed before Naruto and Sasuke joined in. Naruto and Sasuke quickly told them after their activitied during the time with Orochimaru was asked for that their time with Orochimaru was highly classified information they would take with them to the grave, so the topic was avoided completely. At about 7:30, people started getting up and leaving. Naruto and Sasuke finished off one last bowl before they excused themselves and went to do their tasks they had planned for the day. They carefully wrote a note to Konoha telling them that Orochimaru and Kabuto had been killed, their heads preserved and they wanted the bounty. If they agreed to the trade, they were to bring the cash with two people for the trade to the Valley of the End. They soaked two small parts of the parchment with both Orochimaru's and Kabuto's blood to prove they had their heads. They sent the bird to Konoha and went to their next task. They were taken to a hut, which they entered. This was obviously the textile centre of the villiage. There were bolts of many different coloured fabrics as well as pieces of cloth laid on tables. There were several old women sitting at separate tables. The one in the centre of the room who was working on some form of dress looked up from her work with a needle and thread. She smiled at the boy, her face creasing with wrinkles at the facial movement.

"What can I get you two young boys today?"

"We need some new clothes."

"Any preferances?"

They thought carefully. Naruto was the first to answer.

"Would it be possible to get two battle kimonos of the same type and colours?"

"I will have to measure you, but it won't be hard. What about you?"

Sasuke gave in and followed his companion.

"Two battle kimonos as well please."

The lady nodded, motioning them to come over. She picked up a piece of string that was marked at even intervals and began measureing everything. Naruto stopped her as she got to the waste.

"There's somethings you'll have to make allowances for."

"Such as?"

Naruto and Sasuke closed their eyes, concerntraiting. They brought their full level two seals out, suprising the hell out of the ladies. Naruto had grown his tails while Sasuke had sprouted wings. The lady nodded slowly, taking a few new measurements. Once she had finished, she nodded, indicating they could suppress the seals. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Any particular colours?"

Naruto knew instantly what he was going for.

"Blue and canairy yellow."

Sasuke smirked.

"Crimson and black."

She nodded, thinking things over.

"I should be able to have the first pair done by lunch time tomorrow. The next pair can be done in 3 day's time."

Sasuke nodded in appreciation.

"Perfect."

Naruto half smiled at the lady.

"Thank you."

She smiled, wrinkles coming back to her face again.

"You're welcome."

Both boys left to go back to their hut and discuss their plans for the long term future. All of their plans revolved around being able to earn money initially, and the only way to do that was to do missions. The only Village that took in Nukenins was Oto. By killing Orochimaru, they had both freed themselves and screwed themselves over. The only way to earn money would be to kill other nukenins for the bounty. Naruto groaned as he thought about it.

"Damn it, how the hell do the Nukenins earn money? If they had to kill each other, there'd be none left by now."

There obviously was another way. They knew what a lot of Nukenins had to do to survive. A lot of them engaged in shady activities with even shadier people. They both swore the moment they got out that they would only kill people that attacked them and their targets, which now mainly consisted of the nine Akatsuki members. They had a hell of a long way to go before they were ready for that. Both of them refused to even think about the fourth level Sharingan. They had very few options. The only option they could come up with would be to use a high level Henge to change their appearances and try and get some sort of temporary job in a larger town. Their money was far from exahusted, but they were not the kind to leave their planning to the last minute. Both of them came up with nothing, but continued to sit there and ponder. They came up with several new ideas, none of which were entirely pleasing. They could do odd jobs, which would be entirely demeaning, they could kill tyrants and be goody two shoes, which didn't suit their style at ALL, or they could be used as tools, which they REFUSED to do. They were their own masters. No one was their superior. The only one who was their own equal was the other in the room.

_**'Forgetting someone?'**_

_'And you.'_

_**'That's better.'**_

So, the three of them were equals. Then there was also the problem of getting stronger. Assuming the majority of Nukenins were what they were pretty sure thy would be, they helped each other out when they weren't at each other's throats. They had long ago realised that Nukenins were feared for a reason. In a person's home village, shinobi were forced to be used as tools, having to listen to the commands of another, meaning they couldn't fight the way they wanted. They were also limited to one type of elemental jutsu native to their own country. Nukenins were free to make their own decisions, and were allowed to fight in any way they wanted, giving them much more freedom. They were also able to learn elemental jutsus from other villages from other Nukenins who in turn learnt elemental jutus from the other one. All of this combined meant that Nukenins had a wider arsenal of weapons to use, when and how they wanted to use them. After seveal hours, they gave up, resolving to find a Nukenin that didn't want to kill them, and find out he or she survived. Lunch was served to their room and they were told dinner would again be held in the communal hall at 7pm. After lunch, they decided to go train to take their minds off things. Once they had walked outside the village, they began stretching to limber up before starting simple Taijutsu sets. Once they had done that, they drew their swords and proceeded through Kenjutsu sets before having a light Taijutsu spar, finishing off with a short Kenjutsu spar. Needless to say, by the end of it, they were exhausted. The sun had already began setting, tinting the sky with a reddish-orange hue. Naruto checked his watch. It was 6:30. They sheathed their swords and walked slowly back to the village. Once they got there, they took a quick bath each in the small bathroom in their hut before they left to go to dinner. They didn't have the same problem as this morning thankfully, and qucikly ate their dinner, which consisted mainly of some sort of vegitable soup. They excused themselves and retired to bed.

Kyubi had been silently thinking to herself the whole day. Not only was she helping the boys with their problem, she was dealing with one of her own that had been plauging her for months. A very complex one. Kyubi and Naruto had grown closer over the years. Their current relationship was a fairly confusing one to describe. It had elements of a jailor/prisoner, mutaual understanding, and a hint of companionship in it, although neither would admit the last part. However, Kyubi was having another problem. She found that after 15 years of being deprived of getting everything she wanted at her whim, that she was beginning to experience withdrawl symptoms of sorts. Being several thousand years old meant that things tended to take more time in general. It could take a decade before she would have gone mad being locked in a room with little light and no way out, staring at the same four walls, floor and ceiling. The only reason she hadn't become bored yet was she could 'see' outside, but she had no control over what she saw/smelt/tasted or heard. That was not the problem. She was used to being able to seduce anyone she wanted to stave off any... Sexual urges she had. The problem she was facing now was that her sexual urges had built to breaking point, and it was taking all of her control from alerting Naruto. The problem was that the only male she had access to was Naruto when he came for one of his 'visits'. Kyubi and Nibi were both known to have seduced a fair number of human males in their time, but neither had been in this situation before. Last Kyubi had heard from Nibi, she had gotten sealed in a female. The only sort of grim satisfaction she got was that Nibi couldn't releive her pent up fustration unless she got REALLY desperate. However, this still didn't change her own predicament. It also didn't help that Naruto would have to come inside the cage for her to do anything to. And that's where the next part of her problem came into play. The moment he came in, she could kill him and take over control of his body. Normally, she'd have been all for it, but now, she was finding she was starting to hesitate before she would regain her resolve. This confused her to no end. It was a massive multilayered problem that pointed to one thing she would NEVER admit to herself, let alone another. Their relationship was getting dangerously close to entering deep murky water. Water that had been long ago forbidden to be touched. She let out an exasperated growl before she could stop herself, which caught Naruto's attention.

_'What's up with you?'_

Shit. She had to think of a way to stop him coming down here.

"**_Just remebering a past fight."_**

"_That's unlike you to react that strongly to a fight."_

Naruto appeared before her. He saw she was in humanoid form, which was unusual. She wore a red and black kimono that covered her completely, in a vain attempt to stop herself from giving in. She was screwed. As Naruto would have said long ago, totally, fatally, utterly screwed. Naruto took a sniff of the air and stiffened. He'd detected it right off the bat.

"What the hell? Want to explain to me what's going on?"

What could she do? She explained.

"**I'm used to having anything I want. That includes any male I want to seduce-"**

Naruto sweat dropped and blushed in mild embarrisment. It wasn't every day you got to see a sex starved demon who could do nothing about it, but then again, not many got to see a very powerful female demon that was sealed in their own stomach in the first place. Kyubi's simple words and pheremones had sparked something that he had been keeping carefully supressed as well. He had somehow managed to keep what he found to be a disturbing growth of their relationship on his side. Naruto could tell now that the only reason this relationship hadn't turned into some sort of twisted sexual escapade was that he had stopped it from growing to that stage through sheer will power. Naruto trully had no idea what to do. How the hell could he do anything? He couldn't really back out without permanently damaging their relationship, but he was scared shitless of progressing. Kyubi watched Naruto's eyes become awash with a sea of emotions. She was glad to find out that this hadn't been entirely one sided, and was amazed at how well Nartuo had kept this suppressed to hide it from her. Naruto sank to his knees, scrunching his hair in his hands. He was obviously torn as to what to do.

"I... I don't know... What to do..."

"**Makes two of us."**

Should he just do it? Get it over with? One-night-stand kind of thing? That would do more damage than good... The only thing he could think about was summoning her and letting her screw every guy within 10 miles, but somehow, he didn't think they'd apprecaite that.

"Reminds me of that damn 10th Question..."

"**Take or not take."**

Naruto nodded. This was suprisingly like the 10th Question of the Chunin exams. Back out, and face it next time. Take it, get it wrong, and never take it again. It really left only one option, which both of them secretly wanted, but were scared of the consequences. Take it and get it right. Naruto slowly got up and started walking towards the cage. What the hell was he supposed to do? He'd just reached the bars when fate would have it that the third member of their three 'man' cell raised his hand to quit in a sense by shaking Naruto awake.

"Oi, Naruto."

"Wha?"

"What the hell is up with you?"

"Long story."

"Whatever. Our first battle kimonos have arrived. Try yours."

Sasuke pointed to a folded piece of blue and yellow cloth on the small table in between their beds. Naruto picked it up to reveal exactly what he had hoped for. Scratch that, it was better than he had hoped for. Naruto hastily put it on. It was wide fitting enough to grant him unrestricted movement, but also maintained the sleek elegance of a formal kimono. Naruto had to give it to the ladies. They were damn good at what they did. Naruto turned to see Sasuke in his black battle kimono with red highlights. They looked snazzy. Naruto's mind was immediately drawn back to the problem Sasuke had given him a temporary escape from when he heard Kyubi growl. Sasuke saw Naruto was acting wierdly. Naruto had always been calm and in control. Now Naruto looked like he did when he was still using the mask in the Academy days.

"Naruto? What the hell is going on?"

Naruto sighed.

"I don't know how to explain..."

"Try."

"Well, I've told you of Kyubi and my relationship being pretty screwed up right?"

Sasuke nodded slightly.

"I think it just got even more screwed up."

Sasuke got the gist of what he was saying. He sweat dropped. He wanted to know one thing.

"Who broke first?"

_**'Don't. You. Dare.'**_

Judging by the tiny body movements Naruto made, Sasuke had to stop himself from full blown laughing. The demon had caved in first. He never expected that. Sasuke thought over the pros and cons of having the 'lord' of demons as a lover.

"She'd be great in bed."

Naruto face faulted.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Sasuke kept it up.

"She's probably the only one who could keep up with your endless stamina."

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Not funny."

"I'd say go for it."

Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelif.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I wish I didn't."

Sasuke got to the point.

"I dare you."

"If I don't?"

Sasuke smirked.

"I'd be dissapointed in you."

To someone else, this would have been a very light way off. Naruto knew differently. There friendship could be severely damaged if he didn't do this.

"If I do?"

"Apart from the rewards of the dare itself, all the ramen you can eat for 3 months."

After all these years, Naruto still suprisingly had his love for ramen. It was still the king of food to him. Naruto stared at Sasuke. It was his major vice, and Sasuke knew how to exploit it perfectly.

"You're a bastard."

"Just do it."

Naruto sighed. Sasuke was forcing him to do it. He laid back on his bed, careful to remove most of his clothing in case any... Accidents happened. Naruto scowled at Sasuke.

"I'll get you for this."

"Sure."

Naruto entered his mindscape and found himself already at the cage. Naruto couldn't see Kyubi anywhere. He heard a soft growl. Not the usual ones, full of menace. It was still dark, but contained lust by the bucketload. Naruto slowly walked towards the gate.

"I'll... take the 10th Question."

Kyubi had to restrain herself from reaching her tails through the bars and draging the boy in and getting it over with in a flash.

"**You pass."**

Odd thing to say, but it fit the situation. Naruto walked between the bars, not sure what he was getting himself into.

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**That Evening, Real Time:**

Sasuke shook Naruto awake.

"Naruto, I dared you to go through with it, but not for an entire day!"

Naruto looked up at him with a dreamy expression on his face. Sasuke smirked.

"That good huh?"

"No. No words or expressions can describe it."

"Don't tell me you've gone soft Naruto."

"Give me a bit of time. I'll recover, eventually."

Sasuke chucked as he stood up. Nartuo saw that the last kimono had arrived for both of them. Sasuke didn't need to point that out.

"Naruto, we just got the messenger bird back several hours ago. Konoha has accepted to the trade, so we need to get moving by tomorrow morning."

Naruto nodded as he slowly got out of bed and realised something. His boxers were MAJORLY stained. Naruto got a change of boxershorts and went into their small bathroom and ran the bath as he washed the stains out of his boxers. Once the water had run, he got in, enjoying the feeling of the sweat leaving his skin. He got out after 5 minutes and towled himself off before he went back into their room to find Sasuke muttering 'kai'. Naruto felt chakra surrounding the room disperse.

"What was that?"

"Something to keep the neighbours getting ideas."

Naruto sweat dropped.

"I was that loud?"

Sasuke gave a slight nod as Naruto looked out the window and noticed that the sun was almost finished setting. Naruto noticed a new stack of sheets at the base of his bed. He saw Sasuke shurg at him so Naruto changed the sheets and they prepared for bed. Nartuo thought to himself as he slowly drifted into a deep dreamless sleep.

_'Today was one hell of a day...'_

Naruto half expected the Kyubi to respond, but he thought he heard snoring in the back of his mind and went to sleep.

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**Next Morning:**

Naruto and Sasuke woke up early, packed their things and went to the elder's hut. They informed him they were off to the trade and then they would be travelling. The elder wished them luck, saying they were welcome any time in the village. Naruto and Sasuke didn't even have breakfast as they left the village for the Valley of the End, which was some distance away. Not a single word was said. All senses were on alert for attack, however, none came. They made good time, travelling via tree hopping whenever possible and ended up getting to the Valley of the End several hours early. They sat there, reminiscing over old memories when they became awear of two females approaching. They turned to see a shock of pink and navy blue hair. Naruto and Sasuke tried sensing the area to see if they were alone and found no one. The two girls saw them and gasped. Naruto remebered when he saw Sakura for the brief moment not too long ago that she had'nt really matured at all. Physically or mentally. Hinata on the other hand, was a very different story. Naruto could tell that she had a body that put most models to shame. Naruto and Sasuke walked forward to the edge of the statue on their side, seeing both girls carried a small suitcase each. Naruto half smiled at them, mainly Hinata.

"I didn't expect them to send you two. Hinata, you should REALLY wear less modest clothing. You could catch any boy you wanted."

Sakura smiled at the apparent sign of weakness.

"Regretting leaving?"

"Not at all. Hinata may have matured, but she's still nothing compaired to her."

The girls looked at him wierdly. Kyubi choked at the back of his mind, obviously not prepared for that.

"Her?"

"Do you remember what I said the last time we all met?"

Hinata thought for a bit. Apparently, some things never change. Such as her stutter.

"Ano... Y-You said no woman could love a d-demon..."

Naruto engaged his partial cursed seal level two for effect.

"Exactly. No human woman could love a demon. However, I didn't say a demon could love a demon, did I?"

Sasuke made some small body language motions. Naruto basically interpretted them as an 'I dare you.' Naruto smiled.

"Would you like to meet her?"

They did and said nothing, but fear rolled off them in waves. Naruto closed his eyes fro a second.

_'Want to come out for a bit?'_

Naruto took the low growl for a yes, so he bit his thumb and formed the seals. Naruto placed his palm on the ground. The puff of resulting smoke was roughly human size, but based on the amount of chakra Naruto pumped into the jutsu, it didn't make sense. It should have summoned the boss of that type. The smoke cleared and they saw a humanoid fox with nine tails waving in the air. She wore a black kimono and she stared at the girls.

"So, we finally meet face to face. I've waiting for this chance for a long time. I was forced to watch your treatment of Naruto through his eyes. You two disgust me."

She leaned on Naruto's shoulder in a very suggestive manner to emphasise their relationship.

"Naruto. Can I kill them?"

The girls froze, but Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No."

"Eat an arm?"

Sasuke sweat dropped. This is what Naruto put up with all the time? How the hell was he still sane?

"No."

"Burn them?"

"No."

"How about-"

"Kyubi, I said no."

The girls looked at the fox in disbelif. THIS was the Kyubi? The Kyubi seemed to sense their disbelif.

"**I can assure you humans, I am the Kyubi that attacked Konoha. This is merely my humanoid form. I can change into my demonic form if you want-"**

"Don't."

Kyubi looked at Naruto with a Genjutsu that never failed. The Puppy Eyes no Jutsu. Naruto had to stop himself from kissing her right there.

"Let's just get this trade over with."

The girls put their two suitcases on the ground and Naruto inspected the cahs to make sure it was real. Naruto nodded and pulled out the two duffle bags and handed them to the girls Apparently, both of them had some medical training, as they confirmed that the heads were authentic. Naruto decided to engage in some small talk before they parted, as they would probably never see each other again.

"So, who's the Godaime Hokage?"

Sakura looked up at Naruto.

"It's a man by the name of Han."

"What's he like?"

"He's very caring, but also knows how to run the village seemlessly. He's really good."

Kyubi got off Naruto's shoulder, much to his displeasure.

"Naruto, I'm going back before my urge to start destroying things takes over."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll see you tonight."

Kyubi's eyes widened at the suggestion before she laughed, dissapearing in a puff of smoke. Hinata turned to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-Kun... Do you r-Really-"

"Love her? What if I said yes?"

Hinata looked at the ground, saddened that she had lost all hope of getting Naruto for herself. Naruto sighed.

"Hinata, forget about me. I'm destined to lead a life few humans are. There is absolutely no chance of me settling down, marrying and having kids. I have people hunting me day and night. Hinata, I didn't just chew you out last time to be mean. I'm trying to warn you. If you pursue a relationship with me, you will have to give up everything else. Your shinobi status, your home, your friends, everything. Do you trully want that? Hinata, the only way Nukenins survive is by doing dirty work. You're far too innocent for the kinds of things we have to do. To sum it up Hinata, it's not that I don't hate you as such, I'm just warning you of what you're trying to do."

Hinata nodded slowly. Sasuke turned to them.

"You wouldn't happen to have a pair of Bingo Books on you?"

Sakura went into her backpack and got hers out, as did Hinata. They handed the books to them. Sasuke and Naruto opened the books to the pages that were reserved for Konoha Nukenins. There were five major ones. The first was Uchiha Itachi. Second was Orochimaru. Third was Kabuto. The next double page was Sasuke and Naruto. They got some sort of grim satisfaction that they were now ranked S class Nunkenins. Luckily, the charts showing their Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu had question marks over them, meaning Konoha had no idea what level they were at. They snapped the books shut and looked up at the girls. Nartuo looked at them sternly.

"While we may be Konoha Nunkenins, we will kill anyone you try to send after us. We left you alive for a reason. Next time, however, we won't. Oh, and we both noticed along time ago that you were trying to flank us with backup. We're not entirely stupid. Saiyonara."

They both sunk into the ground much like Orochimaru would. You didn't stay apprenticed for 3 years to a Sannin and not learn that type of trick. They both appeared quite a number of miles away, well out of the way of danger. They decided their next place to go from their current location. They both really wanted somewhere to put their feet up. They looked at their Bingo Books to decide if there was any targets worth asking for guidance. Naruto turned to the Grass Nukenin Section while Sasuke checked the Waterfall Nukenin Section. They flipped through the sections until they found a select few Nukenins who might help them. Luckily, the Bingo Books had only been amended several weeks ago, meaning that the information was up to date. The person who was closest on the list was a 25 year old man with scruffy short black hair and teal eyes, apparently last seen murduring a Konoha ANBU platoon in the Wave about a month ago, which wasn't too far from here, respective to the others. Naruto pointed it to Sasuke, who nodded.

"Back to the Wave."

They set off through the outskirts of the Fire Country, heading to the Wave to find the target.

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**A/N:** Again, my appologies to the FF readers for the short chapter, but if you really want the full graphic details, go to MM. My account is under the same name as FF. Well, until next time, my avid readrs!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	10. Combo AN:

**A/N: 1/4:**I'm sorry about this not being a real chapter, but some people are asking me what 'mm' is. MM is another fanfic/fanart site called media miner . orgI have also determined that alot of MAJOR revelations took place during the lemon that boosted their relationship to the new level, that unless you read the MM version, it will not really make sense. For those of you who don't want to have to gourge their eyes out from reading a lemon, basically, the revelations led to the fact that they love each other. Well, as much as they could considering their wierd relationship. I will also put a link to my mediaminer account in my profile. I should be able to update by either tonight or very early tomorrow. I'm almost done with the next chapter of 'Return of the Bijus' as well. It's proving to be a pain in the ass to write. Well, until next time, my avid readers!

**2/4:**Everyone, I'm sorry to inform you that I'm going to have to take some time off from authoring. I've run myself into the ground so far I'm on the verge of having to go to hospital. If you could see my eyes now, I have no whites surrounding my pupils. Only purered. I know when enough's enough, and I'm taking at least a week off to recover. I'm basically going to put Itachi in 'The Lazy Uchiha' to shame. Sorry to my fans, but I can't keep going without being taken out of it for several weeks because of severe sleep deprivation. I'll get back to authoring when I can. Again, my sincerest appologies.

**3/4: **Sorry if I kept you guys waiting. Apparently, my red eye is a dual rare condition found in usually only young people called scleritis and episcleritis. Sorry if I mispelt them, but meh. Basically, the scleria is a while lining directly surrounding the inner part of the eye just outside the inner wall where all your rod and cone cells are (rod cells improve night time vision and cone cells percive colour) The episcleria is a practically non existant layer surrounding the scleria. My conditions is caused by massive inflamation of those two parts which is usually caused by hayfever, allergies and stuff like that. However, I suffer from none of that, so the only thing left it could be caused by was severe lack of sleep and stress, which is my case. I guess that's what I get for trying to keep up with the 2 year course that was meant to be done over four years and write stories at the same time... Well, like the vast majority of my class, I had to quit. I know that no qualification is worth permanent blindness. So, until I find a job, I'll be authoring again. So, now I'm going to get back to both stories. Sorry to keep you waiting everyone!

**4/4:** People have brought it to my attention that 3 AN chapters in a row is against the rules, so I've condensed them into one. I really don't want this story to be taken off. I'm writing the next chapter as we speak. Catch you soon!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	11. The Way of the Nukenin

**A/N:** Yo! I'm wondering, do you guys want a lemon every chapter or do you want me to skirt around the edges so everyone gets the idea except for every once in a while? Now that Kyubi's had sex for the first time in 15 years, she wants more. Greedy vixen... Anywho, most chapters from now on will feature some sort of horizontal action between the two, whether it be afull blown lemon or just hinting at itremains to be seen. It's up to you to decide whether you want the actual scene to appear in the chapters.

**Note:** Some people are saying that I am incorrectly spelling 'Kyuubi' as Kyubi, 'Bijuu' as Biju and 'Hyuuga' as Hyuga. While in a sense this is true, when I type it up in my word processing program, there is something which does not carry over to the published versions. Some of you may be awear of the symbol for double 's' in German that looks like a capital B, well, when Japanese is put into Romaji, there is a simmilar thing for use with double 'u's. I use this in my documents, but both Fan Fiction and Media Miner are unable to detect it, so it comes out as a single u, I'm just to lazy to fix it. Also, the word processor program I use has a 'spell checker' but it fails miserably at it's job. It's set to Australian English, yet no matter how many spelling mistakes I make, it won't detect them. Hell, it says that according to Aussie English, Japanese is correct... Meh...

**MAJOR NOTE:** I'm not mentioning any names, but I'm getting kinda tired with people saying this is going to be a Yaoi fic or something like that. I have mentioned it in the A/N many times. READ. MY. PROFILE. I would almost rather become a hobo than write a Yaoi or Yuri fic. The fact that somany of you still think this when I have them calling each other brother is somewhat disturbing. You will never see a Yuri/Yaoi fic on my account unless something extreme happens, such as my account is hacked, or one of my friends is held hostage and will only be let free if I write one.

From now on, anyone who asks more than three questions that require more than a three word answer each in one reviewwill be replied to via Review Responses. Now, for the questions/comments/suggestions:

**Fan Fiction Section:**

**Deziko:** I'm glad you enjoyed it. This pairing with both of the boys having a cursed seal is a favorite of mine as well. Can anyone confirm if I'm the first to do it? Anyways, hope to see you around!

**Dragon Noir:** I left this part out, but when Naruto & Sasuke became friends, Sasuke told Naruto about what Itachi had done and what he told Sasuke, namely the 'run and cling to life and live in an unsightly way' crap. Naruto told him to ignore that and live life the way he wanted, except that Itachi would be dead at the end of it. I don't know why, but I leave out things that I thought were a given. I guess having the level of knowledge of the human mind and how it works in most situations makes me think a lot of things are a given... _'Sees Dragon Noir pull out the green suit of death.'_ Don't. You. Dare. Touch me with that disease ridden... THING. _'Flails madly as Dragon Noir chucks it at him'_ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm going to catch the burning passion of youth disease! _'Incinerates the suit and performs a jutsu to get rid of all foreign particles in his body'_ Don't try that again... That was evil... Anyways, when I wrote that part, I imagined Naruto & Sasuke to be as strong as Kimimaro. He kicked all of the Sound's Four thoroughly by himself with a single attack each. 'Nuff said. By sharing jutsus with Naruto, did you mean teach him them? If so, then yes, as expressed in the chapter where they went after Gaara. I take it you haven't seen the new manga? Their swords are exactly like Sasuke's there. Basically, their swords can't be blocked by regular weapons. Yamamoto tried to use a kunai to block it, but Sasuke's sword sliced through it 'like a hot knife through butter' to be cliché. As for their appearances, Sasuke looks exactly like he did in the manga, and Naruto is wearing something simmilar. I also explained what parts of the cursed seal each kept, and even provided a picture of Naruto after he got the kimono. Go back and read the part where Naruto modifies the seals. Sorry if I souded kinda mean there, you asked a lot of questions I wasn't really expecting, so I was kinda out of it while answering.

**ranma hibiki: **Did you happen to read the last paragraph of last chapter? I think you should reread it.

**Xerix:** Orochimaru gave him the same seal as Sasuke. The reason others have different ones is because he didn't give them all the seals at the same time, but in between each one he 'improved' them, based on the performance of the previous version.

**Dracowar:** You know, my condition is really not what I would deem 'cool'. My Irises are still the same three colours as before, but the redness comes from what's known as a nodule on the white of my eye, which is really a clump of inflamation cells. It looks like someone poked my eye with a needle or something, but that's not what caused it. Next time you get a huge gash on your leg which the doctors say they might have to amputate it if not treated, would you like me to ask you to post a picture, saying it would be 'cool'? Think about what you say before you say it.

**-Naruto-Kyuubi-:** I think you should probably try rereading the entire thing. 1: Naruto was 9 at the start of the story, not 12, as mentioned in the line '9 years ago on my birthday, the Kyubi attacked'. So when he graduated the Academy, he was 12.2: I never mentioned Sakura could use Shushin no Jutsu. Apart from that, glad you enjoyed it.

**Media Miner Section:**

**Dreadman:** Read the Note paragraph above.

**Kitsuna:** Same as Dreadman. Thanks for the rating.

**TrapedSoul:** I PMed you. Sorry bout the misunderstanding.

**Bloodbrother:** Thanks, hope you like this chapter too.

**CrazyKilla:** I actually made some minor grammamatical adjustments in the latest chapter, nothing extreme.

Thanks to everyone wishing me to get better!

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Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Biju thoughts...'_**

"**...Biju Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 8:

The Way of the Nukenin:

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**That Night, in the Middle of Apparently Nowhere:**

Naruto and Sasuke had gone through the outskirts of the Fire Country, jumping and swinging through the trees for the entire day since the exchange. Once the sun sank bellow the horizon, they stopped for the night. The moment they set up camp, Naruto felt Kyubi growl four words.

_**'Let me out. Now.'**_

Naruto sighed and bit his thumb, summoning her. The moment she was out, her tails shot out and grabbed Naruto into the smoke. Naruto let out a startled 'eep' as Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He could hear growls emitting from the quickly clearing smoke cloud and sweat dropped. He turned and began picking up his stuff, walking out of the clearing. He stopped and turned his head over his shoulder, speaking loud enough to catch their attention.

"I'll leave you two to it. Try and keep it down."

Sasuke walked a few clearings away as he heard muffled hisses and moans. He put his travelling pillow over his head in an attempt to block out the infernal noises, but to no avail. Naruto looked at the Kyubi, or more directly, the fesity look in her eyes.

"Naruto, last night was just a crash course introduction."

Naruto sweat dropped. Last night was just an introduction? I couldn't possibly get much better than last night...

Kyubi must have seen the disbelif in his eyes, because she brought him in for another kiss.

"Trust me. I used a few major techniques last night, but tonight, I'll expose you to a few more."

Their moans, grunts, purrs, hisses and howls could be heard everywhere in a five mile radius for the rest of the night. Sasuke was forced to use a variation of the Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu to put himself to sleep. Sasuke woke the next morning to find that they thankfully hadn't been attacked, which surprised him. Sasuke got up, changed and went to check on Naruto and Kyubi. Kyubi was suprisingly still with Naruto, their tails wrapped around each other to create an enclosure of fur that blocked them off from the outside world. One of the tails moved slightly, and Sasuke saw the hint of a crimson coloured eye. The hole promptly closed before they began shuffling. Sasuke went to start preparing their breakfast.

"You guys were quiet enough that the people in Iwa didn't hear you."

Naruto blushed at the statement before Sasuke went about preparing their rations for breakfast. Naruto took the time that Sasuke had also 'conveniently' turned his back to get changed. Kyubi just snapped her fingers for effect and she was surrounded in smoke before she dissapeared from the real world, whispering just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Don't miss me too much, Naru-_Chan_."

The last part was heavily emphasised, making Naruto turn to her just in time to see her striking a very sexually provocative pose before the cloud completely enveloped her. Naruto got a nose bleed, depsite his best efforts to stop himself. Sasuke turned back to Naruto to see the nose bleed and sweat dropped. He had to shove the ration bar into his hand before Naruto accepted it. Naruto shook his head, wiping away his nosebleed and began chewing on the practically tasteless bar. Once they had packed up, they began jumping and swinging through the trees, intent on getting to the Wave and finding the Nukenin before he left the Wave.

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**Nearly a Week Later:**

The days from the exchange at the Valley of the End past by in much the same as the day before, and the day before that. They travelled by day, breaking only for lunch, which consisted mainly of the bland ration bars that could be purchased from just about anywhere that had a general store. At night, Sasuke quickly learnt that he had to put himself to sleep with the jutsu he used on the first night to get some decent shut eye. Sasuke knew that they would eventually be caught by the volume of the noise the couple made, and after several days, a Hunter-Nin platoon coming back from the Wave happened to be passing by when they heard the very animalistic noises and made the fatal decision to check it out. After they got over their initial shock of finding an S rank Nukenin from Konoha on the floor with some sort of humanid vixen with nine tails engagued in some rather heated horizontal action, they decided that they would be defenseless, and charged. Sasuke was still in the forced sleep jutsu, so he was off in never never land, happily torturing his helpless older brother in a very sadistic version of the Tsukiyomi, completely oblivious to the action going on. Both Naruto and Kyubi never bothered to stop what they were doing and Kyubi shot a tail far to fast for the first man to see straight at him. He only realised it when he felt a searing pain in his chest and looked down disbelivingly at the tail that was going straight through his chest and out his back. He hadn't even seen it move. She ripped it out and the man dropped to the dirt, dead before he hit the ground, soaking in his own blood. The others tried to back up, but they were all within her range and she impaled them with three of her other tails. Naruto resolved to ask her how she did that in the morning as they continued well into the night, free of disturbances.

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**Next Morning:**

Naruto and Sasuke had made good time. They were now about a quarter of a day's travel from the bridge that led into the Wave Country. When Naruto woke up, he found Kyubi still on top of him, apparently asleep. That didn't last for long as he made his first movement, her eyes shot open. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I take it you don't sleep."

She silenced him with a kiss and short tongue war before grinning at him.

"The lord of demons? Sleep?"

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Good point. By the way, how did you impale them-"

He pointed to the blood soaked bodies on the ground beside them.

"-With such ease?"

Kyubi smiled and hovered a tail low over his head before she pumped chakra into it, causing each piece of the fur to stand on end. Naruto lightly brushed his finger over one of the spikes to find it harder and sharper than the tip of a senbon needle. Kyubi then slammed it into the ground beside Naruto's head, puncturing the ground. Naruto looked at it out of the coner of his eyes, listening to Kyubi.

"Apart from using chakra to turn each hair into a weapon, the rest is just training to stab the opponent. Simple, messy and effective."

Naruto groaned. He may have 'tamed' her in a sense, but she was still the sadistic vixen that was feared by mortals. Well, the vast majority of them, anyway. They slowly got up to start the day. Naruto gathered his clothes and walked to a nearby stream where he washed himself off from last nights... Activities. When he finished, he walked back to see Kyubi standing over the bodies, admiring her handiwork. Sasuke chose that moment to come into the clearing and he stopped when he saw the sight. He looked from the bodies to Kyubi to Naruto.

"What happened here?"

Sasuke saw the looks on both of their faces and decided that it would be better if he didn't know.

"I really don't think I want to know..."

Kyubi struck a pose and 'poof'ed out of existance from the mortal world. Sasuke tried VERY hard to not get a nose bleed. Sure, her humanoid form wasn't entirely human, but it was still very attractive on the most basic primal level. Humans had slowly added layers of what defined beauty in the opposite gender to their natural insticts through out the ages, and each one by itself got less of a reaction when it was triggered than the one below it. However, Kyubi's humanoid form happened to trigger the most basic layer that has been around since humans lived in caves, and also parts of every layer that had been placed over it. The effect was to say the least, VERY noticable. Naruto shook his head as he looked at Sasuke.

"You seriously need a-"

Sasuke cut him off before he could say the last word.

"Don't say it."

Naruto smiled slightly at his friend's discomfort.

"You still need one."

Sasuke tried to change the subject by gathering the bodies in a pile. Luckily, Kyubi had been kind enough to spare their faces, so Sasuke could look through the Bingo Book to check if any of them were wanted. None of them were mentioned, so they were not important enough to take their heads for a cash prize. Sasuke stood back and formed a single hand seal for the jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

The bodies were incinerated and quickly turned into nothing but charred ashes that scattered away on a convinient wind that happened to choose that moment to blow through the area. Sasuke and Naruto gathered the few items they had brought with them and left to make the last part of the trip to the Wave.

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**At Around Lunch Time:**

Naruto and Sasuke broke out of the trees at around lunch time and what they saw amazed them. People of all descriptions were flocking to the Wave. Most of them were merchants or traders of some sort or another. Naruto looked at Sasuke and he nodded. They both Henged into older men that had no remarkable descriptions and blended in with the croud. Once they got to the other side, they saw two guards standing at either side of the gate, obviously looking for anyone suspicious. They briefly looked over Naruto and Sasuke, not giving them second glances and they continued into the Wave. Just as they got over the bridge, Naruto noticed a plaque at the base of the bridge. Naruto went over to it, vaguely interested in what he had to say. What he saw shocked him.

_'The Grand Naruto Bridge._

_Made in the memory of a boy who changed the hearts of the people of the Wave through his actions._

_Lest we forget.'_

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. 'Lest we forget' was only used in the memory of a person or people who had died on the battlefield serving their village.

_'So, they think I'm dead, huh? This could be easier I thought...'_

Naruto had to supress a groan as Kyubi sent him a mental image of her, Naruto and Sasuke burning the village to the ground with various Katon Jutsus. Kyubi, being able to read his thoughts, detected this and snickered. Sasuke was still staring at the plaque with a myriad of emotions. Most of which was amuzement. He turned to Naruto.

"Seems I'm not the only one who recognises you for what you really are..."

They got up and began walking through town towards an inn. Going straight to Tazuna's house would most likely be suicide, as word would quickly spread that 'Naruto's back'. Judging by the number of people entering and leaving the country every day, word would soon reach Konoha, and they'd have Hunter-Nin's on their asses with a few days. Completion of the bridge had really done wonders for the economy. There was no one stealing, or wearing signs saying 'will do anything for money', and the shops were actually bursting at the seams with various goods. Naruto happened to notice a store that looked oddly familiar and walked in. It was the 'supermarket' where they had helped Tazuna shop for ingredients for dinner one night they were there all those years ago. Last time they came here, they would be lucky to see two of any particular vegitable. Now, this 'shop' really was a supermarket. It was huge, to say the least. Rows and rows of every type of food imaginable, from raw vegitables to fully prepared frozen meals. Unconciously, Naruto started to drift around, looking for the ramen. To his shock, a quarter of an entire ISLE was devoted to the wonderous stuff. There was every flavour and kind imaginable Sasuke slapped his forhead as he saw Naruto start slobbering practically uncontrolably. They both jumped when they heard a familiar laugh from behind them. When they turned, they saw the last person they wanted to see here. Tazuna no longer wore the boring dark brown shirt or pants, but something far more formal. Obviously, he'd been elevated to a rather important position in the community. Tazuna had two people with him. They were dressed as civillians, but both Naruto and Sasuke knew better by their chakra signatures that they were about low Chunin level, meaning that they had not learnt to mask their chakra yet.

"I haven't seen such a reaction to ramen since an old friend came here several years ago."

Sasuke decided to try playing it cool, and see if he could get out of here before they were sprung.

"A friend?"

Tazuna smiled warmly at him.

"Yes. He's the one we have to thank for the prosperity of this country. Unfortunately, last I heard, he had past on..."

"I'm sorry..."

Tazuna smiled sadly at him, shaking his head to indicate it was fine, and also in an attempt to try and clear the memories from his head, saying something which he either had no idea of what it would do to Sasuke or he already had his suspicions. It was most likely the former, so it was sheer luck.

"Don't be. You had nothing to do with it."

Sasuke couldn't help but let the mask over his chakra slip for a second. That comment had struk far too close to home for comfort, and it showed, because both of Tazuna's companions recoiled as the sharp wave of chakra infused emotions washed over them. Tazuna looked at both of them in interest.

"Something wrong?"

They both recovered, and the one on the left of Tazuna stared at the boy. The man's piercing brown eyes attemtped to discern who exactly this boy was.

"That wave of chakra was not something a regular person could even dream of emitting, let alone the majority of ninjas. Why don't you drop the henge?"

Sasuke sighed. One little slip of his emotions had completely blown their cover. Before they released their henge, they withdrew their level two cursed seal features and then dropped the henges. Tazuna's eyes widened in disbelief. He blinked several times, took off his glasses, polished them before putting them back on, checking both boys again in a vain attempt to check what was in front of him a second time like most humans do when they see something that shouldn't be possible.

"Naruto? Sasuke? I really hope this isn't some super cruel trick..."

Naruto sighed and drooped his shoulders. Some things never changed, one of which was Tazuna's love of using the word 'super' at every opportunity.

"It's us, old man..."

Tazuna smiled weakly at them.

"Last we had heard, both of you had died fighting some S rank ninjas..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Who told you that?"

"Kakashi did. I think we need to have a chat..."

Sasuke smirked.

"Sounds like a typical thing Kakashi would say..."

Naruto looked back at the ramen hopefully, then at Tazuna, eyes filled with pleading. Tazuna smiled at Nartuo, chuckling softly.

"You're definitely Naruto, all right... Don't worry, somehow, you got Inari hooked on the stuff, so we have a super large supply of it at home. Come on you two."

Tazuna started to lead them out of the isle, but both boys realised something. They would have to hold their henge's up in public or completely avoid the general public. They both redid their Henge's causing several raised eyebrow's from Tazuna and his companions. Sasuke looked at Tazuna.

"We'll explain when we get to your house."

Tazuna nodded. From his admittantly limited knowledge of both boy's behavior, they didn't do anything without a reason, so he let it be for now. Both Naruto and Sasuke were staring at Tazuna's 'friends' intently. Neither of them were using a henge. The one to Tazuna's left had a shock of brown hair that looked like a mix between Sasuke's, Naruto's and Kakashi's hair styles. What was even odder was that it somehow WORKED. The man had spikes going everywhere like Naruto, which were longer at the back like Sasuke and also had a shock of it sticking up in a roughly Kakashi-like mohawk. He even had Sasuke's bangs. They decided to forget about the man's hair for the moment and looked over the rest of his body in their analysis. Hw wore typical shinobi uniform, which consisted of navy pants and long sleaved shirt. The only thing he lacked was a flak jacket. Moving to the other guy, they saw he had a much... Tamer style. His hair was mainly just long black hair done in a pony tail. He had teal eyes and a mature looking face. He wore exactly the same thing the other did. Naruto and Sasuke concluded if things got messy, they should be able to knock them both unconcious and make a break for it with little effort. They left the store and began walking through town, acutely awear that everyone was greating Tazuna happily, and he waved back at them. From what both boys remembered, Tazuna lived rather close to the bridge, but he was leading them away from it. The general shops slowly gave way to family buisinesses such as blacksmiths, herbalists and other such things. Those quickly turned into modest estates. Tazuna turned up a particular street and walked past three houses before opening a small white picket gate. The front garden consisted mainly of various types of flowers and small shrubs. The main feature of the front garden though was a small Sakura tree on the right side of the path from the gate to the front door. Tazuna fished a key out of his pocket and opened the door, leading the boys in. They all removed their shoes and walked down the corridor, passing many rooms, including a loungeroom, some form of sitting room, a small library and a dining room before they got to the kitchen. Both Naruto and Sasuke saw a woman with long black hair slicing vegitables, softly humming to herself. Naruto would never forget this woman. She was possibly the ONLY completely human female he didn't get sudden urges to kill. Tazuna smiled as he walked up beside her.

"Whats for lunch, Tsunami?"

She looked at him with a smile, continuing to cut the vegitables.

"Aren't you going to introduce your friends first?"

She looked at Naruto and Sasuke, vaguely awear that Tazuna was smiling with a 'I know something you don't' smile.

"No need. You already-"

They were cut off when both Sasuke and Naruto slid into defensive stances and saw a kunai wizz past them and imbed itself in the cupboard door. Tsunami visibly got very angry.

"INARI! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT USING KUNAI IN THE HOUSE?"

Inari stumbled into the room, obviously quite pleased with himself. He stopped when he saw the two strangers looking at him in interest. Inari no longer wore the cream coloured shirt with the green overals. He was suprisingly decked out in orange. Naruto mentally cringed.

_'Did I really look that bad as a kid?'_

_**'No, you looked worse.'**_

Naruto decided to end the conversation there.

"Grandad, who are these guys?"

Naruto smirked.

"Getting profficient with kunai, are we Inari?"

Inari stared at the man's grin. It reminded him slightly of Naruto's grin.

"Who are you?"

Sasuke put his hands in a half ram seal, as did Naruto. They were surrounded by a puff of smoke. Once it cleared, Inari's mouth dropped open and Tsunami fainted. Naruto smirked as Tazuna went to pick up Tsunami and lean her against the counter. Tsunami soon came around and muttered about 'seeing Naruto and Sasuke in a dream', when she saw both of them sitting at the table and tried to stop her emotions from making her faint again. She slowly walked over to the table with the help of Tazuna. Once they were all seated, Tazuna looked at both of the boys.

"I guess we should start with where we left off..."

Naruto nodded and started with a little about their past, and how both of them were socially alienated for different reasons, Naruto being hated by the entire village, leaving out the reason why, and Sasuke being recognised for his clan name, and not for who he was as a person. After the Wave, they told the others about how Orochimaru had planted a cursed seal on them, showing them the mark for effect. Naruto went over his meeting with Jiraiya and his finals match, their fight with Gaara, and how the villagers activly started trying to mob him and kill him. Sasuke told them about their meeting with Itachi and Kisame, leaving out the Tsukiyomi. They told them about the defection to the Sound. Inari, being an inquisative kid asked what happened while they were in the barrel, and Naruto shrugged.

"We had our level two seals awakened."

Inari still wanted to know more.

"Level two? What does it look like?"

Tsunami began scolding him, but Naruto waved her off.

"We'll give you some examples of the others in their level two forms. One of the Sound four grew a third eye on his forehead as well as horns, his hair turned grey and grew in size. His skin turned a clay brown colour, he grew spikes on his arms and the whites of his eyes turned black while the irises turned a sickly yellow colour."

Tazuna, Tsunami and the other two ninja looked horrified, but Inari thought it was cool. Sasuyke told them about another.

"Another one of them was actually two people in one, and when they engaged their level two seal, they would rip their body in half and regrow plate like armour for limbs, grow horns and were able to merge with other's bodies and destroy that person's cells, killing them in the process. The other features were the same as the others, clay brown skin, claws, fangs and eyes changes."

Inari apparently still didn't get the point, so they knew this one would get to him.

"And then there was the last one. He had a Gekke Genkai that allowed him to control the number, shape, growth and density of his bones. An example would be that he could pull a major bone out of his body and use it as a sword, such as his humerus. He could also make his ribs extend through his chest and use them as a defensive barrier to block kicks from Taijutsu experts."

Inari was finally starting to get the point, but Naruto decided to make sure he did.

"In his level two form, he apparently could even rip out his spine and use it as a whip."

By now, everyone in the room, including Inari got the point that the cursed seals lived up to their name. Sasuke looked at Inari.

"Inari, nothing Orochimaru ever did was 'cool'. He even revived the former Hokages to fight their student using his own subordinates as live sacrifices to help in the invasion of Konoha."

Inari nodded slowly as Naruto told them very little about their time with Orochimaru, except that they had eventually killed him and began their plans. When asked what their plans were, they summed it up in one word.

"Revenge."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow.

"Going to get back at Konoha?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"No, we have others we want dead. However, if they continually send Hunter-nins after us, we might have to."

Tazuna frowned.

"Then why did you come back here of all places?"

"We're looking for another Nukenin who was supposed to be around here. He has some information we need."

Tazuna's eyes narrowed at the mention of it.

"He's still here, alright. He's attacking merchant caravans at random. What do you want from him?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke had tried to avoid telling them exactly why they were here, but they now had a fairly good idea of how most Nukenins lived.

"You just told us what we needed to know."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow.

"You wanted to know what he was doing?"

Naruto nodded.

"Pretty much."

Naruto took out his Bingo Book and showed it too them.

"Our aim is to mainly find Nukenins and to a lesser extent, other people mentioned here. One of the reasons Nukenins are so strong is that they are not bound by their villages laws, and they can also trade jutsus with other Nukenins from other villages when they're not at each other's throats, which they would never learn without something like the Sharingan."

Naruto had just turned to the Konoha Nukenins pages and everyone observed that two people had a cross through their portrait. Naruto noticed their keen interest in these two, and pointed to the one in glasses.

"That's Kabuto, and the one next to him is Orochimaru."

He flipped the page and just then remembered that their own profiles contained descriptions of their level two cursed seal forms. Inari began reading it and his eyes widened as he read Naruto's level two description. Naruto took the book back as Inari was about to start reading Sasuke's description, making Inari look up at Naruto in question.

"Our cursed seal forms is not the sort of information we want more people to know about than necessary. You already know more about our lives than anyone but us."

Naruto became aware of one very amused vixen in the back of his mind and unconciously closed his eyes.

_'What's up with you?'_

_**'Scared they might find out about me if they know about your level two form?'**_

_'I doubt it. N o one who doesn't know about you has figured it out from the form.'_

_**'Really?'**_

Naruto got the idea of what she was getting at and opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him with worried looks.

_'I'm so going to get you for this.'_

Naruto was all too aware of the laughter in the back of his mind as he tried to come up with sort of excuse that wouldn't sound too corny or make him seem insane, and failed miserably. Naruto looked at Sasuke who shrugged. Naruto looked back at them.

"The reason my villiage hates me is because on the day I was born, Yondaime Hokage sealed the soul of the lord of demons inside me, the Kyubi no Kitsune. The villagers, being the idiots that the majority of humans are, needed a scape goat to place their hate on, and quickly came up with an idea that I was the Kyubi no Kitsune reborn, and so they took particular pleasure in attacking me in large mobs. The only reason I wasn't killed was because the Sandaime threatened anyone who harmed me with death, so they held back enough to only give me what would mostly be considered terminal injuries to normal people. That's the major reason I left Konoha. Ever since I last came here, I've been able to talk to Kyubi without having to enter a trance."

The two Chunin were staring at the boy in barely contained fear.

"You... You can talk to the demon?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Kyubi's a rather unsual being to get to know."

The black haired Chunin looked at Naruto oddly.

"You mean he doesn't just destroy everything?"

Naruto leered mentally at this.

_'Pay back time.'_

Kyubi seemed disturbingly unphased, but Naruto went through with it.

"Who said Kyubi was a he?"

Both Chunins processed this sentence before looking at Naruto in disbelief.

"Kyubi is female?"

Naruto became awear of the Kyubi smiling at him mentally as she changed into human form. Getting the point, Naruto bit his thumb and summoned her, much to Sasuke's amuzement. Once the cloud cleared, everyone in the room stared at the vixen with a mixture of shock, horror and awe. If it wasn't for the sheer aura of power coming from the figure, they would have laughed. She wore a red kimono that covered her very appealing curves from view. She leaned on Naruto's shoulder looking at Inari, making him shiver.

"You're scaring Inari."

"Be greatful I'm not eating him."

Naruto groaned and Sasuke sweat dropped. No wonder Kyubi had wanted to come out. This was her payback for Naruto's payback. She was using the 'holier than thou' aspect of her personality. In front of others, no less. To show that she didn't really mean it to Naruto, she wrapped one of her tails around his waist to emphasise their real relationship, making him shudder ever so slightly, having to restraing himself from releasing his partial cursed seal level two and making out with her in front of everyone. Only Sasuke saw this, since he was sitting next to Naruto and could guess what was happening. The others were unable to see this as the table hid the sign of affection from view. The barest hint of a smile touched Kyubi's lips at Naruto's reaction.

"You know what happens when I feel human's fear?"

Naruto shook his head in disbelief.

"It makes me want to destroy things. This house looks-"

"Don't."

Everyone bar Sasuke and Kyubi looked at Naruto like he was mad. He ordering the lord of all demons around? Surely she would just cut off his head. Naruto saw the looks and smiled.

"If I die, so does she. She'd essentially be killing herself if she killed me. It gives me some form of control over he actions."

Kyubi's eyes narrowed and Naruto had to stop from gloating. Kyubi smiled as she thought of the next step in the war.

"That doesn't mean I can't hurt you."

To illistrate her point, she brought a tail right in front of Naruto's face, before pumping chakra into it, making the fur stand on end and she brushed it backwards along Naruto's face so that it didn't cut him. She was starting to push it back when Naruto smiled.

"If you do that, you'll just have to repair it."

Kyubi stopped and though about the pros and cons of going through with this verses not doing it. She stopped pumping chakra into her tail, making the fur soften and withdrew her tail, making sure to sweap it over his face. All this time, the others around the table were watching this exchange, wondering if this conversation they were seeing was explainable using some form of logic or another. Little known to them, it was very easily explainable... At least on the surface. But they were not ready for the reason. Not by a long shot. Kyubi looked at a part of the wall with an interested look on her face. Naruto and Sasuke were also looking there, making Tsunami look at the wall worridly.

"Is the wall dirty or something? I thought I did a thorough job of cleaning-"

Sasuke answered her, but he was clearly more intent on focusing on the spot on the wall.

"It's not the wall, it's what's beyond it that interests us."

Sasuke and Naruto stood up and followed Kyubi outside. Naruto looked back over his shoulder.

"Don't follow us. You'll be killed if you do."

They nodded slowly as Naruto and Sasuke walked out the front door to the garden, looking at the trunk of the Sakura tree while Kyubi hid in the doorway to watch the exchange.

"You know, you're REALLY bad at using that jutsu."

The man smirked and stopped melding with the tree, stepping out of it. He looked like he was made from some sort of liquid with bright yellow eyes. This appearance quickly returned to normal, and they found their target staring at them. Scruffy short black hair, teal eyes. Yeah it was him alright. He smirked at them, or more correctly, Naruto.

"So, you were the one I felt summoning. That was a lot of power for someone of your age. Strange though, with that kind of power, I would expect you to summon the boss. I don't see any destroyed houses-"

"**You're pretty nieve for an 'experienced' Nukenin, aren't you, human?"**

He stiffened and looked to where the voice came from, seeing a silloutetted figure with nine tails waving behind her. Kyubi stepped out of the shadows, looking slightly amused. The man's eyes widened noticably before they narrowed.

"No wonder I didn't see any destroyed houses. You're using a henge-"

Kyubi sent a tail flying dangerously close to his face, which made the man pause mid sentence and just managed to stifle a gasp when the fur on the tail sprang up to look like some sort of barbed spear.

"**What made you think you could speak to me, the lord of all demons in that manner, human?"**

Naruto looked at this like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, which for him it really wasn't.

"Would I be right in guessing you have a bingo book on you?"

The man nodded slowly, afraid that even the slightest movement would see that tail go through his head. Naruto looked at him nonplussed.

"How recent is yours?"

"About a week old... All villages publish their books twice a year at around the same time..."

He stole a glance at the two boys and his eyes widened when he recognised the two latest additions to the Konoha Nukenin section. His eyes widened considerably.

"You two are Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke... S rank Nukenins who killed Orochimaru and his right hand man, Kabuto... Then that's..."

Sasuke looked bored, trying to act cool despite the fact that he was finally getting recognition as a person, and not as a member of a long dead clan. He noticed that the A rank Nukenin from the Mist was staring fearfully at the queen of demons.

"Yeah. That's the Kyubi no Kitsune. I'd suggest not pissing her off."

The man stole a look at Sasuke.

"Her?"

Naruto and Sasuke face faulted. Naruto recovered first, with Sasuke not far behind him, brushing themselves off before smirking at him.

"'It' has a very feminine body, wouldn't you agree? I know for a fact that she happens to be female."

Kyubi had to suppress a lecherous grin that threatened the corner of her lips at the subtle yet blatant hint of managing to 'bed' her, while Sasuke sweat dropped as Naruto continued.

"That isn't a henge, at least, not by our standards. It's an acutal transformation, not just some shoddy Genjutsu. Now, tell us, what did you hope to achive by seeking us out? A fight?"

The man shook his head rapidly, but the spiked tail just bristled and got closer.

"**Do you honestly think lying to a demon would work?"**

The man considered this for a second. In hindsight, he was rather hoping that it would, but he was rarther more concerned for his life at the time than to process that level of logic. He shook his head slowly, regaining most of his composure from the initial shock of the three.

"I guees that was a breach of ettiquite on my part. Forgive me. I was not expecting to run into the lord of demons as well as two S Class Nukenins in the Wave. Knowing Nukenins, I would assume you came here for a reason?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Yeah, there was a reason. That reason was you."

The man turned to Sasuke with a raised eyebrow, amusement clearly showing on his face.

"Me? The only thing I can think of that you would want with me is the bounty over my head."

Naruto and Sasuke looked hesitant before Naruto spoke for them.

"Acutally, it was kind of a request."

The A rank Nukenin was certainly interested now.

"Request?"

Wityh some further hesitancy, Naruto managed to ask their request.

"Yeah. Long story short, we're kind of new to this whole Nukenin business."

The man smirked and closed his eyes.

"Ah, the latest 'graduates' as we call them amongst ourselves. It's kind of hard to believe that you two took down two other S rank Nukenins without knowing how we survive in this world in the buisiness, but I get the feeling that doubting your powers right now would be a bad idea."

He gave a tilt of his head to indicate the tail still hovering dangerously close to his face. Naruto looked at Sasuke, then Kyubi and made a Kage Bunshin to go back into the house and tell them they would be gone for an indeterminate amount of time. Once Naruto had conveyed the message, Kyubi dissapeared and Naruto and Sasuke set off with their target in front of them, taking to the rooves so as not to be seen to some place they could discuss things in private.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I purposely made this chapter a bit shorter like my latest one for 'Return of the Biju' for the same reasons. Until next time my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	12. Three Strikes & You're Out

**A/N:** Yo! It's been a while since I updated this fic… As for those of you who think I'm ignoring fics, no I'm not. I have a full time job, so I don't get much time to actually work on my fics. The only reason I got an 8 to 12 k word chapter out at the rate of one per day was that I had **all** day to do so. At the fastest, I can do a chapter every 2 to 3 days. So, don't worry if I don't update a particular fic for some time. I may just be stuck with the plot on a particular one.

Is it too much to ask for a fic that has a decent story line as well as some het smut? I read a fic today that involved Kyuubi fusing with Naruto. No big deal there, however, what shocked me was that Kyuubi said 'If you have a kit, which I hope you do, it will be stronger than Akatsuki the day it is born'…. By god, sure I've seen some people pushing the 'get overpowered quick' stories, but that's taking it a bit far, isn't it? I can just imagine Hinata giving birth to the child and the Akatsuki gang appear. The child looks at them and they explode in a shower of blood and guts. Hell, stuff sending the ANBU out to do missions, just send the kid out! It also seems that fics that do have smut, even if I use the 'all but Yaoi' filter on Media Miner, ¾ of them are STILL YAOI! And even then, the het fics rarely have anything even considerable as a solid plot. Arrrrrg, it's so sad…

Oh, and I was checking the net for a picture of Tayuya's lvl 2 Cursed Seal form and I found some Tayuya Hentai… That was the **last** thing I expected to see…

Thanks again to my trusty beta-like-object, Kyuubi no yoko 9.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Bijuu thoughts...'_**

"**...Bijuu Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 9:

Three Strikes and You're Out:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**In the Nearby Forest:**

The Nukenin stopped and took a seat on a stump.

"Alright, obviously you two have thought about this. Tell me what you've come up with."

Naruto leaned up against a tree while Sasuke sat on a branch of that tree.

"Well, we've come up with several solutions, most of which aren't… appealing…"

The Nukenin nodded, indicating them to go on. Sasuke continued.

"We aren't welcome in any village, so we'd be stuck with working for people like Gatoh, becoming 'tools' of others. We refuse to take orders from anyone. We could use a several layered Henge to blend into society, but we have objectives we need to complete, which consists of taking out nine people. We could help a group overthrow a tyranny, but those are rare. Or we could just steal what we need. The only plausible one is Bounty Hunting."

The Nukenin sighed.

"You've covered everything we do to survive. All of us had morals when we started out, however, those who kept them didn't last long. Being a Nukenin makes the most bloodthirsty dog of a village look like a saint to us. You still have your morals; however, you will have to sacrifice them to live."

Naruto and Sasuke glared at him.

"No."

The Nukenin raised an eyebrow.

"I seem to have hit a nerve…"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"We might be willing to drop most of them; however, there is one we will **not** drop. To gain power at the other's expense."

The Nukenin nodded slowly. There was a deep hidden meaning behind that. One that held many bitter memories, if their expressions were anything to go by.

"You obviously have a good reason for that. I'm not going to pry into your past, but know this. There are times when you have to kill your heart to do things that you wouldn't be able to do otherwise."

The Nukenin stood up and looked at both of them.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you. I'll catch you round."

Naruto stopped him.

"We'd also prefer it if you left the Wave alone."

The Nukenin raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"It's the only place that ever acknowledged us as regular humans."

The Nukenin sighed.

"You guys'll have to learn that you can't afford to have connections to any place longer than your stay there. Those that keep those connections are found out and exploited by others. Later."

The Nukenin disappeared leaving only a few displaced leaves to indicate he'd ever been standing there. Naruto and Sasuke pondered his words. Everything the Nukenin had said was true, however little they wanted to admit it. They wouldn't put it past Konoha to secretly hold one of Tazuna's family hostage, ordering them to give themselves up or they would kill him. It was better if they severed all connections with anyone but the three of them. Naruto took out a scroll and a calligraphy brush and ink jar. Ever since he had begun working with Orochimaru on Fuuinjutsu, Naruto had always carried one around in case he needed to make a sealing scroll on the run. He wrote out a short letter to Tazuna, thanking him for his hospitality, and telling him that they were not going to be coming back. Naruto rolled the scroll up and summoned a small one tailed Kitsune. The Kitsune looked up at him, waiting for its orders. Naruto handed him the scroll.

"Give this to Tazuna."

With Kyuubi's help, he used a rather advanced form of telepathy useable only by higher demons to send the Kitsune the directions. The Kitsune yipped and ran out of the clearing with the scroll in its mouth. Sasuke was also writing his own scroll, and that's when Naruto sensed a squad of ANBU level signatures nearby. Sasuke finished his scroll and rolled it up, throwing it to the ground in the clearing. Sasuke turned to Naruto and gave a slight flick of his head to indicate they should leave. Naruto nodded and they both disappeared well away from the ANBU. The ANBU cursed as they saw the two targets get away. They came into the clearing and looked at the scroll that Sasuke had thrown and noticed that it was addressed to them. None of them could sense any chakra coming from the scroll to indicate some form of Genjutsu or Fuuinjutsu so they took the scroll and opened it and their eyes bulged as they read the contents.

'_For Konoha ANBU, you were pathetic. Let us give you some advice. We're giving you three chances. Each time Konoha initiates a capture attempt, cause us harm or blackmail us, you will have one strike against you. This time will not count. After the third slip up, we will destroy Konoha and every single one of its inhabitants. Considering you gave neither of us a single chance for a normal life before we left, this is a rather generous warning, don't you think?'_

The ANBU nodded and left for Konoha with all due haste. Making a direct threat to Konoha was not to be tolerated, especially from a pair of teenagers. Unknown to them, Naruto could choose to unleash Kyuubi at will.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**6 and a Half Months Later:**

Naruto and Sasuke had quickly gotten used to bounty hunting to keep their funds up. By now, Sasuke knew how to do the Forced Sleep Technique without hand seals. Using it every night to drown out the sounds of his brother and his lover which echoed through out the area gave him an excellent amount of practice. However, about six and a half months after they left the Wave, they ran into a squad of Konoha ANBU who were apparently going for the same target they were. However, since Naruto and Sasuke had arrived several minutes before the ANBU, the kill was theirs by right. However, there was a new member to the ANBU on this squad and he charged both Sasuke and Naruto without thinking. Naruto's eyes lit up at the man's ignorance and puffed up a tail with chakra and drove it through his neck with frightening speed, killing him instantly. Their mood thoroughly spoilt, Sasuke sliced off the target's head with practiced ease and turned to stare at the three remaining ANBU.

"I would assume you got our message from 6 and a half months ago? This is your first warning. We got to the target first, so it was ours by right."

His tail still lodged in the man's throat, Naruto picked the mask off the ANBU's face. This was a face he didn't recognise, so he pulled out his new bingo book he'd nabbed off a Kiri ANBU squad who had tried to take them on not too long ago and began shifting through it. He did not find the face in any of the sections so he looked up at the remaining three masked Konoha shinobi.

"No wonder he's a nobody. Charging in there like an idiot… I'm surprised someone didn't kill him sooner. He's not worth anything, so I'll give him back."

Naruto wrapped another tail around the man's waist and stopped applying the chakra to his first tail. He ripped it back out of the man's neck and used the tail around his waist to hurl the lifeless body back at the other three. They caught the body and were shocked when the force of the throw forced them back several meters. Another of them withdrew the standard issue ANBU katana and got ready to charge when the captain stopped him.

"Do you want to end up like this?"

The man grunted and sheathed his katana. Sasuke turned back to the head, picking it up by the hair and formed three hand seals, before placing his palm on the mans head to use the preservation jutsu to make sure the head wouldn't decay or smell before they delivered it. Sasuke handed it to Naruto and Naruto slipped it into a specially designed body bag for heads. Sealing the bag, he gave the ANBU a last look of contempt and a snort before they both left to their employer to receive the bounty on their target.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Month Later:**

They were just about to kill another target in the Earth Country when a single Ame Nin dropped from his vantage point and sighed at the boys.

"Seems I got here a bit too late…"

Naruto shrugged as he punched one of the target's body guards in the chest hard enough to break his sternum and then followed it up by breaking his neck with a tail. Sasuke dispatched the last body guard and their target looked at the boys in fear.

"Who are you?"

Naruto smiled sadistically at the man.

"Uchiha Sasuke, one of the two remaining Uchihas and Uzumaki Naruto, container and mate of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, queen of demons. Say high to Shinigami for me will you? I've got some personal issues with him."

The man was trying to get his head around this revelation.

"Kyuubi is…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Female? Very much so."

Naruto plunged a kunai into the man's voice box and out through the back of the spine, ending his life instantly. After severing the head and preparing it for transport, they saw the Ame Nin looking at them in something akin to respect.

"I'd never thought I'd get to meet you two. You're pretty famous, you know?"

Sasuke shrugged in indifference.

"We don't care about fame. We just want to finish off Akatsuki."

Now **that** got the Nin's attention.

"Akatsuki? Those nine weirdos?"

Naruto looked at him in interest.

"How much do you know about them?"

The Ame Nin smiled and made a beckoning motion with his hand.

"Nothing's free in life."

Naruto shrugged and chucked the body bag to the Ame Nin, who caught it in surprise. The look of surprise morphed to that of a grin.

"Handing over a bounty of this size would merit more than a bit of info on Akatsuki… I suppose I could pass on a jutsu or two…"

Naruto and Sasuke smiled. They still had more than enough cash to give up this kill in exchange for things money can't buy. The Ame Nin sat down and told them everything about Akatsuki he knew. Besides the fact that he knew there was nine of them and their appearances and jutsus were… Unique, the only two he knew about in specific were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame.

"I happened to see both of them about 3 months ago when I was taking care of a nobody in the Falls Village. Apparently, they were looking for something, but I didn't ask them. I got the impression it wouldn't be healthy."

Naruto nodded. The lead was not exactly brand new, but it was far more current than what they had before. The Ame Nin looked up at the cloudless sky as he thought about what to teach them. Once he had decided, he looked back at them.

"I'd assume that both of you specialise in Katon jutsus, right?"

The both nodded and the Ame Nin smiled.

"There's a Suiton jutsu that compliments Katon jutsus quite well. It's called Suiton: Koku'un no Jutsu."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Black Mist Technique?"

The Nin nodded.

"It produces a black mist from your body that rises into the air and causes it to rain. But not just any sort of rain; Pure crude oil."

Now that would be useful. Crude oil was extremely flammable, and a rain of it would definitely increase the effects of a simple Housenka no Jutsu almost 30 fold. Sasuke's Sharingan activated signifying he was ready. The Nin nodded and formed the seals, announcing them as he went.

"Tora, Hebi, Tora: Suiton: Koku'un no Jutsu."

A black mist came off the Ame Nin's body and rose into the sky. Not 20 seconds later, the first drop of oil fell from the sky. It was quickly followed by a shower of oil that lasted about 30 seconds. The Nin stopped the jutsu and the rain stopped shortly afterwards. Sasuke nodded.

"Got it."

Naruto nodded. He didn't need to learn the jutsus right off the bat, as he could just relearn them from Sasuke later. The Ame Nin thought about what to teach them next.

"Which Suiton Jutsus do you know?"

They recounted their rather limited collection of Suiton Jutsus. The Ame Nin nodded.

"I'll teach you three more. Suiton: Suiyuudan no Jutsu, Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu and Suiton: Suishouha."

They agreed. Luckily, there was a small creek nearby that was fed by an underground spring. The Ame Nin performed each one which Sasuke copied. After he had finished, they thanked him and he disappeared from sight, leaving Sasuke to teach the jutsus to Naruto. It took several hours to learn all of them with the Kyuubi's help. At about midday, they went to a nearby town to recuperate.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Naruto and Sasuke were staying in the only inn in the town, or what should probably be called a collection of buildings. Naruto awoke to the glaring sunlight streaming through the only grimy window in their room with Kyuubi in his arms. Nothing unusual there. Kyuubi's eyes shot open when he looked at her and she leaned in giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Anything more serious and it would probably end up in another all day love making session. Sasuke would put up with it during the nights, but during the day he'd made it very clear that he didn't like it one bit. After Kyuubi had gone back to her cage, Naruto got dressed and used a rather powerful Genjutsu to cloak himself so as not to make too much of a scene at breakfast. As he walked down the stairs, he was acutely aware that his older brother while under a similar Genjutsu to him was staring vehemently at another couple who were sharing an intimate moment. Naruto sighed and took a seat next to him.

"Aniki, you really need to let someone else in."

Sasuke turned to give Naruto a glare but instead of seeing the usual smirk or the less usual mock concern, he saw true concern and even a hint of worry in his eyes. Sasuke sighed and sat back in his chair. For once, he spoke his thoughts.

"The reason I don't 'let someone in' is because I don't want to get attached to someone who will be following us around and Itachi will use as a hostage when the time comes to kill him."

Naruto had to agree. It was a valid point. There weren't many females in this Nukenin business, and all of them they had met were rather intent on making sure that they did not end up 'succumbing to the whims of a male', despite how some of them saw Naruto act with Kyuubi. They usually dismissed it as something like 'if he did, she'd just kill him.' To an extent, that was also true, however, Naruto didn't for a different reason. It's because he saw her as his equal in every way shape and form and wouldn't do it even if he had to. Naruto looked at Sasuke with a defeated look.

"I'd let Kyuubi spend a night with you, but-"

As if to illustrate the implication, Naruto felt a rather strong feeling of disgust coming from the seal, or more directly, his lover which the seal was 'protecting' him from. He sighed.

"She's not too thrilled with the idea…"

Sasuke shrugged and stood up, looking at Naruto with a questioning glance which in this situation meant 'what do you want to eat?' Naruto thought for a moment.

"Bacon and Eggs, and if possible, a bowl of miso ramen."

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. The bacon and eggs was understandable, but ramen for breakfast? It was almost as unbelievable as the 'legendary sucker' of a Sannin winning at gambling. With that, Sasuke made his way over to the counter.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**In a Seedy Gambling Den Somewhere Nearby:**

A rather well endowed woman with blonde pigtails was just about to bet the last of her money on a game of Chou or Han. Just as she lifted the cup off the die, she let form a rather loud sneeze, which knocked the die closest to her over, turning the Chou to a Han.

"Someone's talking about me again…"

She rubbed her nose and looked at the die in disbelief before turning to her raven haired assistant.

"Shizune, is that Han?"

Shizune nodded, dumbfounded. Tsunade leap into the air as the other men in the gambling den looked at it in disbelief. Tsunade raked in the money she had won, quite pleased with herself.

"When I find whoever did that, I'll have to thank them."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Sasuke & Naruto:**

Sasuke was carrying the tray of food back to his table when he let forth a rather loud sneeze. His eyes closed for a brief second and he didn't see the leg of the chair that the man next to him had pushed out and his toe caught the chair, making him lose his balance before toppling over, the food unfortunately spilling over Naruto, who was none too pleased. Naruto stared at Sasuke, both of their eyes twitching, saying the same thing.

"I'm going to hurt whoever talked about us behind our back."

Sasuke nodded in agreement as he used a specialised jutsu to clean the mess up and silenced the few sniggers from the occupants of the room with a massive spike of killer intent.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back With Tsunade:**

Tsunade sneezed and again knocked over the dice just as she lifted the cup off the dice. Shizune was ecstatic, but Tsunade was wary. Despite the nick name 'legendary sucker' she still won, if only rarely. It was still once in a blue moon. However, she **never** won again straight after that unless something catastrophic was going to happen. Tsunade took her winnings and looked at Shizune.

"Shizune, we're leaving."

Shizune stared in surprise at her mentor.

"But Tsunade-Sama, you were winning!"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"That's exactly the point. I don't win two times in a row. Unless something like **that** will happen."

Shizune caught the implication and nodded. She picked up the third member of the trio, their female pig Tonton and they left the gambling den with their two suitcases of money. Once they walked outside, they felt the temperature drop several degrees and they looked around. Two none descript men were staring daggers at them. The slightly older one pointed at Tsunade.

"You!"

Tsunade looked at the man with disinterest.

"Got a problem?"

The other man sneered.

"Probably the fact that you made us look like idiots."

Tsunade wasn't the kind of person who would forget the face of someone she made light of.

"I've never seen you before."

The older one grunted.

"Who said you had to see us to make us look like idiots?"

The trio of females were rather confused. The town members were also watching this in interest.

"Look, I don't have time to waste with idiots like you."

The younger one smiled as Tsunade turned and started walking off.

"I don't remember giving you the right to leave."

That did it. Tsunade whipped around and stared at the man in anger.

"Since when did I have to ask the right to leave?"

The younger one smirked.

"Since the time we killed your former team mate and became S rank Nukenins capable of killing just about anyone."

Tsunade and Shizune's eyes shot up as they looked at them in horror.

"You're…"

Naruto smiled as they both released their modified Henge, showing Naruto and Sasuke in all their glory.

"That's right. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

Just for effect, they released their partial stage two seal, much to everyone's shock. The towns' people scrambled inside to get away from them. Naruto snorted.

"So typical of humans; they fear and hate what they don't understand. How foolish."

Sasuke smirked. He'd come to an understanding recently that the reason his brother had murdered his clan was not exactly a crime. After he'd learnt about their hunger for power and their need to dominate everyone, he'd begun to see that Itachi had been right to leave Konoha. However, what he would not forgive him for was murdering the clan. He could have chosen to just leave the clan and the village instead of murdering them. When they next met Itachi, he was going to get a full explanation for the reasons of Itachi's actions. He also had to admit, Itachi could see humans as they truly were; Arrogant, selfish, hypocritical bastards. He focused back on the three females in front of him, or more specifically, the rather stuffed suitcases. He aimed the next sentence at Naruto.

"Seems I was right. You liking Ramen for breakfast was almost as unbelievable as her winning."

Tsunade was torn. Here were two S rank Nukenins staring daggers at her who had ended a major threat to her village, and also apparently caused her 'winning streak'. However, they seemed displeased about it.

"So, I have you to thank for this?"

Tsunade indicated the suitcases. Both boys nodded.

"I guess the second sneeze I had was in answer to you threatening me after I caused you an accident thanking you?"

They nodded again making Tsunade rub a temple with one hand.

"Sorry, I guess."

Both boys shrugged.

"Whatever."

Sasuke stiffened before sighing.

"Itachi, stop hiding."

Tsunade and Shizune looked at them in a confused manner but stumbled back when they saw the air shimmer and reveal Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame. Itachi looked at Sasuke.

"Hisashiburi dana, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to face his brother of so many years.

"Indeed it has. I suppose you're here for Naruto?"

Kisame smiled as he hoisted Samehada over his shoulder.

"Yup."

Sasuke stared at Itachi.

"I want an explanation."

Itachi looked directly at Sasuke without saying a word.

"Why did you murder our clan? There were other ways you could have done it."

Itachi's eyebrows shot up. Before his lips almost cracked a smile.

"For that very reason."

Everyone else present looked at Itachi in confusion as he explained.

"Apart from my hatred of the clan, I killed them and goaded you to see if you were any better than them. If you had failed, you would have attempted to kill me by now."

Sasuke sighed and walked over to a bench and motioned Naruto and Itachi to sit down. Apparently, this was going to be a long talk. Naruto looked at Tsunade.

"This does not concern you. I would suggest leaving."

Tsunade nodded and hightailed it out of there, Shizune leaving with her. They knew when they were outgunned, and they had never been more so than now. Itachi took a seat to Sasuke's left while Naruto was on Sasuke's right. Kisame saw that he too had no real place in this so stood off to the side, grinning at the people hiding behind shuttered windows. Sasuke sighed.

"Itachi, I can understand why you did it, but I don't think it warranted killing them for it. You could have done what Jiraiya and Tsunade did, and requested indefinite leave."

Itachi looked at Sasuke with a look that could only be described as respect.

"What changed your outlook?"

Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Naruto did. He's one of the few who could understand me."

Itachi looked at Naruto and nodded.

"Thank you."

Naruto shrugged.

"No problem."

There was silence for a number of minutes before Sasuke turned to Itachi.

"Brother or not, if you hurt my friends, I will kill you."

Itachi nodded slowly. Naruto looked at Itachi.

"And if you ever hurt my brother or my mate, I will kill you."

Itachi looked at Naruto with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"You and Kyuubi-San are mates?"

Naruto nodded.

"Who better than one who shares my every thought, every dream, every memory and every emotion?"

Itachi couldn't refute the logic in that. He looked at Naruto with a blank expression, belying the thoughts going through his mind.

"How is she in bed?"

Naruto, Kyuubi and Sasuke face faulted while Kisame laughed.

"You've always been the weird one of the pair of us, Itachi-San."

Itachi looked at Kisame.

"I hardly think so. I don't look like I had to adapt to life on land instead of the sea."

Kisame growled as he 'playfully' swung Samehada at Itachi who blocked it with the palm of a hand. Itachi turned back to Naruto.

"Well?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Kyuubi sweat dropped. Naruto closed his eyes as he established a connection with Kyuubi.

'_Do you want me to tell them?'_

Naruto could tell Kyuubi was smiling.

'_If you tell them at all, make sure to rub it in.'_

Naruto sighed as he opened his eyes and looked up at the clouds in the sky.

"She's better than any human woman could ever hope to be. We could possibly go for 3 days straight with only 30 second breaks in between each session before stopping. The only reason we'd have to stop after the three days is to attend daily needs like eating."

Kisame and Itachi were looking at Naruto in awe as he continued. Kisame spoke every male's mind in the general vicinity.

"I don't care about her, but **you** can go that long?"

Naruto smiled. This was the perfect way to get back at every other person around them. To show that he and his partner were much more 'male' and 'female' than any others here.

"Define 'long'. If you meant staying power, then longer. I have to stop for the same reasons she does. However, if you meant length of my 'tool', then 11 inches. 12 if I'm really aroused."

Suddenly, every male bar Naruto overhearing or taking part in the conversation felt that their masculinity was very inadequate, if the downward glances at their crotches were any indication.

"She can also control her muscles to such an extent that she could make me orgasm at any time she wanted, no matter how long ago we started."

Now all of the females listening bar Kyuubi felt greatly inadequate. Kisame dropped Samehada with his mouth open while Itachi was giving a rather perverted grin. Sasuke was holding his head in his hands. He didn't want to hear this at all. Naruto gave Sasuke an apologetic look and smiled at Itachi.

"Since when were you a pervert, Itachi?"

Itachi's perverted look returned to that oh so famous blank expression.

"I had to have some way of staying sane in ANBU…"

Naruto and Sasuke sweat dropped. He'd become a pervert at the age of 13? That wasn't right. This was by far the most surreal experience they'd ever had. They were sitting down with their enemies and talking like a close group of male friends did. Naruto sighed as he stood up, catching the other's attention. Naruto gave them something which few got to see; A genuine smile.

"Well, I suppose we came to some sort of an understanding…"

Kisame shrugged and strapped Samehada to his back while Sasuke and Itachi got up. They separated off and looked at each other. Sasuke looked intently at Itachi before his gaze softened.

"Itachi… I forgive you…"

Itachi smiled slightly and nodded.

"Good to see that you didn't follow the Clan down the path to madness, Sasuke."

Naruto looked at the two members of Akatsuki.

"Since you 'failed' to capture me, what are you going to say to the others?"

Kisame shrugged.

"Last time, Jiraiya saved you. Both of you could easily kill him now, so that's all they have to know."

They could live with that. If they were going to let them off the hook, they weren't going to complain. Itachi gave one last nod before the two purple nail polish wearing nins disappeared. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"I'm sorry about that…"

Sasuke immediately shrugged it off and turned to leave, Naruto following him. Naruto looked at his watch; 10:37 am. If they stepped on it, they would be able to reach the next town by lunch. The people of the town they had left started coming back out, dazed to have seen so many high ranking Konoha Nins in one place by sheer coincidence.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Lunch Time in the Next Town:**

Sasuke and Naruto arrived in town just in time to see a rather shocked man go flying through a wall and a woman screeching at him from inside the building.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING THAT AGAIN, PERVERT! OR I'LL CASTRATE YOU!"

Sasuke and Naruto sweat dropped. There was only one woman with that strength and that voice.

"We had to follow her, didn't we?"

Naruto shrugged as they walked into the bar without their usual modified Henges. Tsunade was already making a scene. Few of the people noticed the two boys entering the room as they walked up to the line of 'wanted' posters. Naruto and Sasuke drew their swords and stared slashing them as bounty hunters did when they had killed the target. The bar tended shouted out to them.

"What the hell do you think you two are doing?"

Naruto looked at him.

"When was the last time you updated these?"

The man though for a moment.

"About 4 months ago…"

Naruto sighed and slashed the last one, leaving only a single one remaining.

"All of the ones we slashed are dead by our hands."

Everyone started murmuring and looking warily at these two boys as Tsunade looked up from the hold in the wall and saw the two boys. She scowled at them.

"Why are you following us?"

Sasuke looked at her in a disinterested, rather bored look.

"Who said our business had anything to do with you? You think just like the other remaining Sannin and the one we already killed. They think the world revolves around them. Grow up and act your age."

Tsunade's eyes twitched at being told to grow up by a boy over 30 years her junior. However, she knew if she attacked them, they would definitely kill her with little problem, but also her strength would kill-"

"Innocent bystanders?"

Tsunade looked up at Sasuke in shock to see his Sharingan active.

'_How did he-'_

"Read your mind? Because I can."

Tsunade's eye twitched. She was above-

"These childish games? Apparently not."

Tsunade's eye was twitching rapidly. Don't-

"Think of anything? Like that would work."

Naruto was smirking. The Sharingan was very useful for a number of things. One of them was hypnotism. Tsunade turned on her heel and stormed out leaving Naruto and Sasuke to gloat over their 'victory'. They took a seat at a spare table while the waiter hesitantly approached them. Naruto looked at him in annoyance.

"Just because we hate Konoha and its ninjas doesn't mean we're going to hate you unless you give us a reason to."

The waiter nodded and approached the table.

"What can I get you two?"

Naruto sighed and looked up at the chalk boards hanging on the wall before something caught his eye.

"Three of those works burgers, thanks."

The waiter raised an eyebrow as he wrote that down. Sasuke looked at another board.

"I'll have a… Lasagne… Whatever the hell that is…"

The waiter nodded and left to take their orders to the kitchen. Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"I'm going to go talk to her."

Sasuke nodded. The majority of the people in the room expected him to get up and walk out, but to their surprise, Naruto formed hand seals and then went to sleep.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Kyuubi's Cage:**

Naruto trudged through the corridors and eventually ended up in front of the Kyuubi's cage. He sighed as he looked around.

"You deserve so much more than this…"

Kyuubi smiled at Naruto who slipped in between the bars and embraced his mate.

"I wish I could change this into something more fitting…"

Kyuubi pulled back from him and looked into his eyes.

"This is your mindscape; so technically, you can do anything here within certain limits."

Naruto looked at her in interest.

"And what are those limits?"

Kyuubi smiled at him.

"Whatever it is must have corridors. It must also have pipes and a sealed room with him-"

She pointed at the piece of paper sealing the cage shut.

"Guarding it."

Naruto nodded. He wracked his brains for ideas before smiling at one in particular.

"Fit for a queen…"

Kyuubi decided not to read his thoughts for the sake of a 'surprise'. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. The yellowed room began to waver before a blinding flash of white light was emitted. When Kyuubi and Naruto opened their eyes, they were inside a lavish room that was indeed 'fit for a queen'. There was a massive fuuton to the side as well as other luxuries such as a heated spa, a mass of books in a miniature library, a desk nearby with writing utensils and a bowl of fruit on a stand next to the fuuton. Kyuubi glomped Naruto.

"Thank you, Naru-Chan!"

"No problems, Kyu-Chan."

Kyuubi kissed Naruto rather passionately when Naruto remembered where his real body was and reluctantly pulled back.

"You can thank me later. Making love right now would be a bad idea…"

Kyuubi mock pouted before she threw off her clothes and ran at the spa, and much to Naruto's dismay, bombed in. The water went everywhere as Naruto sweat dropped when Kyuubi broke the surface and purred contently. She gave Naruto a suggestive wink and blew a kiss at him.

"You'll definitely be getting something special tonight, Naruto."

Naruto smiled and walked out the door of the room to see the 'guard', also known as his father there. The guard looked at him, staring at his eyes with the same blue ones he had.

"We'll have to have a talk later, Naruto. There's a lot I want to say."

Naruto did the only thing he could. He fainted, which dispelled him from his own mindscape. The Yondaime sweat dropped.

"I guess since my soul originally manifested as a piece of paper, it's no surprise he thought I wasn't sentient…"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Back in Real Time:**

The waiter was approaching with the food the two boys had ordered when Naruto 'woke up'. Sasuke saw something was wrong and looked at Naruto in a concerned fashion.

"What happened?"

Naruto sighed as he leant back.

"I didn't think a little interior decorating would do something like that…"

Naruto had long ago told Sasuke about his mindscape, so Sasuke understood instantly what he had meant by 'interior decorating'. Sasuke then realised that this look was remarkably similar to the one that he wore after waking up from his first time with Kyuubi. Sasuke thought for a moment before his eyes shot open in realisation. Naruto looked at Sasuke and nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't believe it either…"

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief as he took the plate of what he assumed to be lasagne and took a bite. Naruto took his burger and took a huge chunk out of it. Everyone except Sasuke watched in amazement as Naruto at one burger after another. He'd even asked for a fourth which the cook hastily whipped up. After the fourth burger was consumed, Naruto sat back, content. However, the mood was disturbed when Naruto's danger sense went off and he caught several shuriken on his fingers. Naruto turned to see who the troublemaker was and sighed when he saw it was a squad of ANBU. Konoha ANBU, if their tattoo was anything to go by. Naruto looked at them, shrugging off their killer intent like it was nothing.

"What the hell do you want? Can't you see we were enjoying a meal?"

The one in front stepped forward.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, by consorting with Uchiha Itachi and Hosigake Kisame, you have violated the law of all Shinobi Nations."

Naruto laughed at the man.

"Last time I checked, we didn't have hitai-ate on. Know why? Because we don't belong to one of your 'Shinobi Nations.' This is your second warning. Next time, Konoha burns to the ground. Now, leave or I may decide to consider this the third warning as well."

The ANBU weren't sure what to do. They could attack and get the third warning, or they could leave and make Konoha lose face. Naruto stood and left some notes on the table to pay for the food. He walked right up to the Konoha ANBU and released his partial level two seal, much to everyone's horror.

"I assume since you're still here you want to keep going? I'd rather take this outside if that's the case. There are too many bystanders here."

Naruto walked straight through them with Sasuke right behind him. They stood out in the street and stared at them.

"Well? Coming?"

The ANBU captain must have given a signal, because the four of them disappeared. Sasuke smirked. If that's what Konoha has to offer, they wouldn't stand a chance once the third warning expired. Sure, they'd have to release their full level two seal for the hoards of ANBU and the Hokage. Naruto's grumbling brought Sasuke out of his train of thought.

"I suppose I should go and talk to him…"

Sasuke nodded as they made their way to the local inn, paying for two rooms and decided to take today off.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Another one bites the dust. The only thing I have to say here is don't ask who's the Hokage. Go read back several chapters if you want the answer. Anyone who asks that question will not get a reply.

Ja na,

Specula.


	13. Strike Three

**A/N:** Yo! I've already done the first chapter of my newest fic, but as I promised, I'm going to finish this one or Chances Missed first. To tell you the truth, there was pretty much nothing more I could truly do with this fic except end it, which I will do over the next one or two chapters. Just a warning for my Media Miner readers, this chapter goes straight into a lemon. Like with the last one, some parts of the story in coming scenes won't make sense unless you read it, so Fan Fiction readers, if you're 17 or over, go to Media Miner and read it. If you're over 17 but really don't want to read all the details, just read the spoken text for the really important stuff. So, if you're under 17 or whatever the legal age is where you are, don't read it. Nothing's stopping you, but at least my ass won't get fried if you're caught.

Thanks to my beta; Kyuubi no Yoko 9.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Legend:

_'...thoughts...'_

"...normal talk..."

'**_...Bijuu thoughts...'_**

"**...Bijuu Speaking..."**

**&&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&&&**

Living Behind a Mask:

Chapter 10:

Strike Three:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**That Evening:**

Naruto & Sasuke had found an inn for their day off fairly quickly. After they had paid for two rooms, they walked up the stairs and separated. Naruto put a double strength sound and chakra barrier over the room, so that no one would know what he was doing. He felt Kyuubi whining to be let out, which he obliged. Once he had summoned her, he stiffened slightly. Kyuubi normally released copious amounts of pheromones during their 'private time', but this was insane. He could already feel himself becoming aroused. He released his partial cursed seal, pulling Kyuubi to him, and pressing his body full against hers before she could even say anything. Both of them mashed their lips together, getting involved in a large scale tongue war. Finally, Naruto pulled back for air and looked at her with a mixture of feral anticipation and worry crossing his face.

"Kyuu-Chan, is something wrong?"

Kyuubi pushed him back onto the futon and began rubbing her rather ample chest over his kimono, using her voice that was husky with lust to further 'seduce' him.

"No, Naru-Chan. There's absolutely nothing wrong. I said I was going to give you something special tonight, and that's what I'm going to give you."

Naruto nodded and kissed her again.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Almost an Hour Later:**

Finally, they let their tails go and they dropped to the ground, completely content. It was then that Naruto remembered the burning sensation he had felt on his left hand. He lifted it to see the Kitsune tattoo was now surrounded by spiralling tails. Apart from the physical changes, he felt his personality start making subtle twists. His darker emotions came to the front, while he felt the slight hunger for food he had replaced by a hunger for something else, which he could not place. He also felt the part of his insides that was reserved for the Kusanagi pulse once before dying down. Kyuubi saw this and smiled at him.

"Congratulations on your new rank, Naru-Chan."

Naruto smiled as he tried to release his withdraw his partial cursed seal, only to find that he couldn't. Kyuubi smiled.

"You are the king of Kitsune. Those are your nine tails, signifying you as the new Kyuubi."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"And what would that make you?"

Kyuubi snorted.

"Your completely devoted and loyal lap dog of a wife."

Naruto could hear the sarcasm dripping off her voice and chuckled, hugging her.

"You know I wouldn't stay with you if you were."

Kyuubi snickered and hugged him.

"I know."

Both of them were aware that the barrier surrounding the room was beginning to undo itself. It was not Sasuke, that was for sure. Finally, it came completely undone and there was a knock at the door.

"Uzumaki-San, are you decent?"

Naruto snorted and pulled on his kimono, while Kyuubi made some clothes appear out of thin air for herself.

"Now we are."

"Would you mind if we had a word with you?"

Naruto sighed and shrugged, leaning back against the wall, Kyuubi doing the same.

"Sure."

Naruto smirked as the door opened partially and froze, the reek of their activities hitting the ANBU at the door. He called in to them.

"Would you mind if we discussed this downstairs?"

Naruto shrugged as he looked to Kyuubi, who nodded and reappeared back in the seal. Naruto called out to them.

"I don't smell much better than this room, so I'll be several moments."

The ANBU shut the door and they began walking up the corridor to the next room, obviously getting Sasuke as well. Naruto threw his kimono off and walked into the bathroom, taking a very quick shower before getting out and using chakra to dry himself perfectly before putting his kimono back on. Luckily, it didn't smell whatsoever, so he opened the door and stepped outside to see a single ANBU waiting at the stairs. The ANBU looked at him and nodded.

"Glad you decided to join us."

Naruto waved it off.

"As if I was going to run."

Naruto let the unsaid 'I could have killed you with no problems' hang as they both walked down the stairs to see Sasuke already at a table with the other three Konoha ANBU members standing around the room, or in the case of the squad captain, sitting at the table. Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke who raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's with the seal?"

Naruto showed him his tattooed palm, which made Sasuke's eyes widen considerably. They both turned back to the ANBU captain.

"I have been asked to come here directly by Hokage-Sama himself to ask for both of you to talk to him. It seems that the two chances that have been used were used directly against Hokage-Sama's explicit orders. After the bounty trade for Orochimaru and Kabuto-s heads, Han ordered all people of Konoha to leave you alone unless attacked first. We cannot confirm who did what, so we would like your side of the events in an attempt to clear this up."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, trying to think of what brought this up. Obviously, the Godaime Hokage was pulling at straws.

"I'll say this. Regardless of defied orders or not, an attack is still an attack. I've wanted to meet this 'Han' for a while now."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"We'll go, but remember, one more chance and that's it. No compromises."

The ANBU nodded and stood up.

"Do you have any pressing issues to attend to before we leave?"

Naruto nodded.

"I need to talk to the Yondaime."

Everyone was silent as they tried to process this. Sasuke sighed and shook his head, explaining Naruto's apparently strange request.

"The seal that holds the Kyuubi at bay is guarded by Yondaime's Soul. Until earlier today, the soul manifested as a piece of paper. Naruto did a little… Interior decorating, making the Yondaime into a guard instead of a piece of paper. He hasn't had the chance to talk to him yet."

The ANBU nodded slowly and the three others began walking out the door. The captain looked specifically at Naruto.

"Please let us know when you're finished."

Naruto nodded and formed several hand seals, before slumping forward. Sasuke sat back, carefully watching the ANBU out of the corner of his eyes as the masked man walked out the door to wait with his team.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Naruto's Mindscape:**

Naruto walked through the several corridors he had memorised until he found himself in front of the door, seeing the Yondaime staring at the wall in front of him. Yondaime turned to look at Naruto with a small smile.

"Hey, Naru-"

"Get to the point. I'm very, very pissed off at you right now."

The Yondaime sighed, lowering and shaking his head.

"I really can't say I blame you. Naruto, do you know why I chose you as the one to bare this burden?"

Naruto scowled and took a seat on the opposite side of the hallway, while Yondaime sat down on his side. Quite frankly, Naruto didn't know or care.

"Amuse me."

The Yondaime nodded slowly.

"You were the only child born that day, and the only one capable of holding it in. If I had the option, I would have placed the burden on another without second thought. Naruto, my final wish which the old fart, Sensei as well as Kakashi were witness to was that you were to be treated and hailed as the saviour of mankind."

Naruto scoffed and held up his tattooed hand.

"They turned me into a self fulfilling prophecy. I **am** the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

The Yondaime sighed and sat back.

"Which brings me to the next point."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this.

"After watching the treatment you were given, I'm abandoning my position of the Yondaime Hokage and will support you in whatever action you chose to use against Konoha. Frankly, after what I thought I taught them, I'm appalled I ever took the position. That's a promise."

Naruto practically had a heart attack at this, but was not prepared for what came next.

"Naruto, my soul has been continuously draining ever since this seal was put in place. As it is, the double four element seal won't last more than another fortnight. The reason I chose a slip of paper was because this form used more of my soul to maintain."

Naruto was unsure of what to say. He fully intended to come down here and give him a verbal cussing that would have made Tayuya blush, remembering what little he did of her. However, all that showed in the Yondaime's eyes was regret, pain, sorrow and a begging for forgiveness so desperate Naruto had never seen anything like it before. Naruto was unsure of what to do. As the King of Demons, should he 'put him to death', or maybe torture him? Yondaime snickered, making Naruto look at him.

"Don't forget, I can read your mind too."

Naruto growled.

"I'd prefer you don't."

Yondaime shrugged.

"I don't have a choice in the matter. Whether I want to or not, your thoughts are passed through me to reach her."

Yondaime jerked a thumb back at the doorway next to him. Naruto looked at the Yondaime.

"What would happen if we brought Kyuu-Chan out here or you stepped inside and we sorted this out?"

Yondaime looked stumped for a moment.

"I'm really not sure. When I created this seal, I had no idea this is how it would turn out."

Naruto really couldn't fault him there. This was designed after all to let Naruto take the Kyuubi with him to the afterlife when he died. Naruto got up and pushed open the gold rimmed oak doors and stepped inside. Kyuubi immediately glomped him, making Naruto stumble back several steps. Kyuubi's hand passed through the doorway, which made the doors slam shut, knocking both of them inside. They heard the door handles turning before they opened to reveal Yondaime, who looked very hesitant before he finally stepped inside. Kyuubi was fighting her internal anger and hared for her 'killer' that was in front of her. Yondaime stayed at the doorway, staring at the Kyuubi who glared back at him. Naruto sighed, trying to break the tension by kissing her on the cheek.

"We don't have much time. We have to sort this out."

Both of them nodded slowly in agreement. Finally, Yondaime sighed.

"You can probably tell the seal's been weakening right?"

Kyuubi nodded, but smiled sadistically.

"And I know just how to fix it."

Both boys looked at her expectantly, watching her smile widen. Naruto spoke first.

"How?"

Kyuubi kept smiling at the Yondaime, making him shudder.

"I'll tell you on one condition. Tell Naru-Chan who his father was."

Kyuubi was laughing up a storm mentally, while the colour drained from Yondaime's face. Naruto turned slowly to Yondaime. Yondaime's eyes locked with Naruto's, and Naruto saw something he'd rather not. The striking resemblance he used to have to the Yondaime.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me…"

Kyuubi smiled widely while the Yondaime fell to his knees and touched his head to the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto… I wanted to tell you, but-"

"**I DON'T CARE!"**

Both of them looked at Naruto who's normally blue eyes were turning blood red. His tails were placing slash marks into the floor as they flew around, showing his absolute anger and hatred that was directed at just about everyone and everything. Naruto stormed up to the Yondaime and pulled him by his collar upwards, dragging the full grown man up to face level. Yondaime was actually crying silently seeing his son so angry at him. He hung his head and whispered just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Please kill me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the request.

"If it makes you feel even the slightest bit better, by all means do so. It's the least I deserve…"

Naruto's eyes softened slightly, before hardening again. This changeover happened several more times before Naruto dropped him, much to the Kyuubi's amusement and the Yondaime's relief.

"You're not even worth killing. However, what will me worth it is having you manifest when we go back to Konoha and chew them out. And by god you had better."

Kyuubi smiled as she thought about the possibilities of what to do with herself and the Yondaime as well as Naruto and Sasuke to the villager's minds. All they needed was Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru and it would bee fun for all the family…

"You would make a fine king of hell, I must say. I feel sorry for the demons when we get back there. Would that be the third strike?"

Naruto looked at her, trying to decide. He was obviously very, very tempted to say yes it was, but he shook his head.

"No, but I'm willing to bet it will lead to it."

Both boys now turned to Kyuubi, who they were expecting to fulfil her part of the deal, which she did.

"Well, if Naru-Chan was to summon both of our souls, we could go on a killing spree in Konoha. I'm sure that Hokage's body would be rather fitting for you. I'd rather take several others, such as that white haired old king of perverts as well as several others… Fitting people."

Yondaime nodded. He didn't exactly like the idea, but he had promised Naruto he would support him in any of his action, and he never broke a promise. Yondaime reached into his cloak and pulled out an original Hiraishin kunai suited to him, which he chucked at Naruto.

"Good luck, Naruto. All me when you're ready."

Kyuubi smiled as Naruto gave her a last kiss and ejected himself from the mindscape. When he snapped open his eyes, Sasuke was staring at him, while the four ANBU were watching him cautiously. Naruto felt the weight of the Yondaime's Hiraishin Kunai, which he kept hidden in his sleave. Naruto smiled toothily at the ANBU.

"Well, that talk was refreshing. Let's go."

The ANBU nodded and left the room. Naruto immediately turned to Sasuke.

"They are screwed. He was my dad."

Sasuke almost choked, but managed to nod as they both got up and walked outside. The ANBU began leading the way. Naruto was practically bursting with anticipation of burning the village to the ground.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Week Later:**

Over the past week, everyone noticed Naruto's demeanor darkening and the ANBU got a terrible sense of foreboding from him. Naruto had assured Sasuke that he was fine, telling him it was due to the events that took place on the afternoon after they had met Tsunade. After a week, they had finally made it. Before them down the road were the gates of Konoha. Once they reached it, the Chuunin guards gasped when they saw Naruto at Sasuke, but said nothing as they let them pass seeing the ANBU with them. Naruto was acutely aware of every single person stopping what they were doing, many dropping what they were doing to run away in fear. Sasuke snorted as they were led to the Hokage Tower seeing people whispering things like 'it's **the** Uchiha!' and 'He's come back to us!' Frankly, Sasuke was more than fed up with them. The ANBU ignored the villagers and led them into the Hokage's office. It was then that they got the first view of the Godaime Hokage, Han. He was a rather tall 20 something well built male who had an incredible amount of wisdom in his golden brown eyes, as well as the kind of experience gained only from a life on the edge. Unfortunately, the majority of his physical features were hidden by the Hokage Robes. Han stood to greet them.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, I presume?"

Sasuke shrugged, while Naruto shook his head.

"To you, it's the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Han raised an eyebrow as he offered them the seats in front of his desk, which they took.

"Really? And why is that? Last I was informed, the Kyuubi was sealed inside you."

Naruto sighed and sat back.

"As of one week ago, I gained the title of King of Demons. After I finish here, I'm going to Hell and sorting them out."

Han said nothing to that.

"Well, I suppose we should get straight to the point. There is a small extremist faction within the ANBU. Since we shut Root down with the help of one of its members who I believe you have had the pleasure of meeting almost a year ago, they have sprung up, identifying themselves as Yondaime's Wish."

Naruto scoffed, making the other occupants of the room look at him.

"You want to know what 'Yondaime's Wish' was and still is? From the man's mouth himself just before we left the Earth Country, his final wish was that I be seen as a hero, the jailor of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and saviour of all living things who held it back through sheer force of will alone. I would have thought you would have respected the final wish of the man that most in my position would call a father instead of turning me into a self fulfilling prophecy."

Han sat there trying to take in what Naruto had just said while Sasuke snorted.

"Oh, and if you feel that it is absolutely necessary to have witnesses in this room as well as four squads of ANBU right outside the door, then bring them inside and into plain sight or we will consider this your third strike."

Han sighed and nodded. A section of the wall warped, revealing their former team mate, Haruno Sakura, their former Sensei, Hatake Kakashi as well as Jiraiya of the Sanin. The door opened, and all 16 ANBU walked into the room, shutting the door behind them. Naruto smirked.

"20 in all… You know, you picked a very unlucky number to defend yourself with."

Sasuke smiled and caught on.

"One tail for each of the ANBU and below, while leaving two for the rest of us. What I want to know is why, in a meeting with the rank of the… Beings present, **she**-"

Sasuke indicated Sakura with scorn.

"-Is here. Somewhat out of place, I would think."

Sakura stiffened and looked on the verge of tears but said nothing. Han was starting to get worried. Naruto and Sasuke had obviously come here for a reason, and to talk things over wasn't it.

"She is here because she was your former team mate."

Both boys' bodies showed they clearly disagreed. Naruto looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"No, she was never a part of Team Seven, considering how many times she practically tried to kill herself, having to get us to pull her out of the line of fire. Kakashi was also a failure of a Sensei, preaching everything was about team work when he showed favouritism towards Sasuke, which I personally had no problems with. Do you recall the last time that happened with a Genin Team and their Sensei? For those of you who can't, let me refresh your memory. Sandaime's prize student, Orochimaru went 'rogue'. Team Seven only ever consisted of Sasuke, Kyuubi and I. Sakura and Kakashi were never a part of it, purely a means to an end."

Kakashi winced at the verbal berating of his absolute failure, while Sakura slumped to the floor. While they were on the subject of the Kyuubi, Han wanted to verify a previous statement they had made.

"Kyuubi has nine tails, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"I do indeed. However, my tenant has another nine, leaving Sasuke and Arashi to deal with the last two."

Most of the people froze at the last name. Naruto looked casually at Jiraiya.

"Yes, your former student-"

Naruto turned to Kakashi.

"You former Sensei-"

Naruto turned back to the front.

"And the person most would call my father."

Naruto smirked and slowly pulled out Yondaime's Hiraishin kunai.

"If it wasn't for this, I'd have no chance of summoning him. I have my own which works only for me, but I can't remember his version of the seal."

Naruto dropped the Kunai, and as soon as it hit the ground, a streak of yellow shot out of Naruto's stomach and appeared in the middle of the room. When the streak returned to normal, everyone's jaw apart from Naruto, Sasuke and the Yondaime's hit the floor. Jiraiya spoke first.

"Arashi… It really is you… I'd recognise that chakra anywhere, even with so little of it present…"

Arashi's wavering, ghostly spirit looked at his former Sensei and student.

"Jiraiya, Kakashi, why did you ignore my final wish? You do realise I've seen every single thing that has happened to Naruto, right?"

Jiraiya was unable to talk until his eyes widened.

"But… If you're here, then what's stopping Kyuubi from getting out?"

Everyone stepped back from Naruto, except Naruto, Sasuke and Arashi.

"Absolutely nothing is stopping her from killing me and taking over my body."

There were far too many revelations coming here at once. Not only did Naruto refer to the Kyuubi as a female, but said she did not want the chance of freedom? Sasuke sighed and sat back.

"Not surprising really. After all, Kyuubi and Naruto are mates… I would know. They're loud enough for me to have to learn the forced sleep technique to the point I can do it without hand seals, regardless of whether or not they use a sound barrier during one of their all night 'sessions'."

Naruto smirked while practically everyone blushed at the rather crude hint. Naruto closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened them, he smiled.

"Kyuu-Chan want's to meet some of you."

One of the ANBU snorted.

"Kyuu-Chan?"

Naruto smile widened as he closed his eyes.

"Only I, her mate and companion of the past seventeen years, has earnt the right to address her with such affection and familiarity. Not even Sasuke, my brother has earnt that. Watch what you say, **human**."

Everyone decided it was better not to tempt him again and kept quiet. Naruto looked at Han.

"I'm going to give you a choice. I can summon her in her full demonic glory, or her humanoid form. Which do you want?"

Summoning the Kyuubi again as a towering nine tailed fox was an incredibly bad idea. People would cause a riot at the very least.

"Humanoid, please."

Naruto nodded and bit his thumb, forming the hand seals before placing his hand on his leg.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

A cloud of human sized smoke covered Naruto. Everyone who wasn't used to the massive amount of chakra used to summon her with such ease had varying ways of reacting, from shock to slight admiration. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was still there, but a humanoid fox in a very modest black kimono that hid her body well was sitting on his lap. Naruto placed his hands around her stomach and nuzzled his face into her back, making her purr. The strange thing most people noticed that while both Arashi and Kyuubi were both souls only, Yondaime's soul seemed somehow much weaker than Kyuubi's, as if he was about to die. Sasuke sighed, bringing everyone back to the conversation.

"Could you two please wait until after this to start that again?"

Both of them shrugged, but not before Naruto whispered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, rubbing her stomach gently. The people at the front noticed a slight bulge in her stomach area.

"How are they?"

Kyuubi snorted.

"At the moment, fine. Another six weeks."

Kyuubi got off Naruto and used several of her tails as a makeshift seat. Han's eyes narrowed.

"Based on the week it took you to get here and the information you've given to us, would I be correct in guessing you are pregnant?"

Kyuubi smiled triumphantly.

"Indeed I am. That is partly why Naruto is the new king of hell. Demons do not need to throw away large sums of money to exchange a few meaningless words and give each other a gold band just to get a piece of paper saying they are bound until death. A demon may mate with whoever they chose, but once they mate with another and produce heirs, they have entered a permanent relationship with the other that lasts beyond death. Naruto is the first one that I have offered the right to, which he has accepted, meaning he has taken the position of lord of demons and also my breeding partner."

Han sighed and sat back, trying to think about how to make this work when an ANBU behind Kyuubi lost his self control, unsheathing his Katana and charged forward, aiming for Kyuubi's stomach from behind.

"Demon scum! Shi-ne!"

The ANBU tried to hold him back, but Kyuubi grabbed his throat with a tail. Naruto smiled and stood up.

"Three strikes. Konoha is out. As the new king of demons, I declare a war on Konoha, starting-"

Everyone froze for a moment as the full implication of this washed over them. Naruto and Kyuubi did not give them the chance to recover and impaled all sixteen ANBU members through various vital parts of their bodies.

"-Now."

Naruto roared, releasing his full stage two seal, making the majority of the people still standing shrink back as the black chakra exploded off him, shattering the glass of the office windows and hurling objects that weren't tied down away from him. Sasuke released his own level two seal and groaned as his wings ripped out of his back.

"It's been a while since I've used my true form…"

Sakura started backing away as Sasuke grabbed her throat. Kakashi was still horrified by everything happening around him, noticing too late as Sasuke chuckled darkly.

"I finally figured out why you're so stupid. Yes, you have an amazing amount of book smarts, but you have absolutely no common sense whatsoever."

Sakura managed to gasp and pull enough air into her lungs to speak.

"Sasuke-Kun… Why?"

Sasuke snarled and sent a focused Chidori Nagashi through her, electrocuting her. After a while, he dropped her smoking, lifeless body to the ground.

"Stupid until the very end…"

Kakashi was about to move into action when he felt Naruto let of a paralysing amount of killer intent.

"**YOU DARE ATTACK MY MATE AND OFFSPRING? SHI-NE!"**

Naruto was about to completely eradicate this side of Konoha when he felt Kyuubi wrap a tail around his wrist. Naruto turned around and grinned toothily at the remaining three people who were backed up against the wall. Naruto turned to Kyuubi and smiled.

"**Ah yes, I have to preserve bodies for your resurrection..."**

Kyuubi smiled sweetly.

"Indeed, Naru-Chan."

By now, they heard screams and yells as a mob was gathering outside with anything that could be used as a weapon in their hands. Naruto grabbed Kyuubi with his tails and pulled her close.

"**Remember how we both wanted to try mating and killing at the same time? I think now's a good chance."**

Kyuubi nodded and kissed Naruto quickly.

"Remember, I'm somewhat tender at the moment…"

Naruto nodded and took her out the door, leaving Sasuke and Arashi to deal with Kakashi, Jiraiya and Han. Sasuke sighed and bit his own thumb, forming the hand seals for a summoning.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The Hokage's Office exploded into smoke and then burst outwards. Once the cloud of smoke disappeared, everyone was paralysed by seeing Manda, king of the snakes in the middle of Konoha. Manda looked up at his summoner and smiled.

"**Sasuke, is this an offering?"**

Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hn."

"**Then I don't mind if I do!"**

Manda smiled before he looked down, seeing Jiraiya stepping out of the rubble that was the Hokage Tower, and started forming hand seals. Manda lunged towards him, as Sasuke spoke.

"I don't care about the peasants, but please try and keep the bodies of those of Jounin and above in rank somewhat… Intact…"

Manda smiled, ignoring as Jiraiya managed to dodge, leaving Manda to smash his head into a nearby building, pulling its screaming denizens out and swallowing them whole.

"**Considering how many that leaves… I think I can oblige this once."**

Sasuke smiled, watching in pure, unbridled glee as the villagers saw their precious 'Uchiha-Sama' standing atop Manda, not bothering to lift a finger to stop it from ripping their corpses to pieces. However, their fun was soon cut short as another cloud of smoke came forth, revealing Gamabunta with Jiraiya and a badly injured Kakashi atop his head. Manda hissed in frustration.

"**Oi, Sasuke! If you think I can kill certain targets while fighting him, then I'm voiding your contract with the snakes. I refuse to have a stupid summoner."**

Sasuke sighed while Jiraiya yelled out to Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Do you know what you're doing?"

Sasuke struck a mock thinking pose for a second.

"Let's see… I'm standing on the head of Manda in the middle of a village full of people… Why don't you tell me, genius?"

Jiraiya ignored the insult to his title.

"Then why are you still wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate?"

Technically, it was true that Sasuke was wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate, but anyone with half a brain could tell there was something wrong with that.

"It seems that the 'genius' Sanin are all actually quite stupid. Orochimaru never realised I had my free will until I stabbed my sword through his right hand man's chest, Tsunade thought the world revolved around her, thinking she was far more important than we were, until we brought her down from cloud nine, and you didn't realise that this 'Konoha' Hitai-ate is really-"

Sasuke casually passed a finger over the metallic leaf symbol to reveal it was actually the kanji for 'demon'. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"I may have understood if the Genjutsu had been advanced, but it was barely above a single Henge. You really are an idiot, just like your team mates. And if you think I didn't notice you were buying time to hide the villagers, you just proved my point."

Just then, a huge cone of blood red and black chakra shot out from nearby and ripped through the Hokage Monument, destroying the shelters there and the people inside them. Gamabunta sighed and got ready for battle, unsheathing his knife and jumping at his long time enemy.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Naruto & Kyuubi:**

Both Naruto and Kyuubi were outside, rolling around in the street, their kimonos only pulled up enough to allow them to mate. The bodies of several villagers and ninja who had been stupid enough to attempt to kill them since they had started were lying around in a pool of their own blood. Most people were now rather wary of the mating demons as they rolled around, hissing moaning and growling at each other. Naruto smirked at Kyuubi, addressing her as much as the bystanders.

"You know, I would have thought this would be more fun. Everyone's favourite nine tailed demon is back with her mate. Considering how compromising out position is, you think they'd jump at the chance to stop us breeding…"

Kyuubi smirked as a rather obese man ran in with some sort of ornamental katana, swinging in a wild downward slash at them.

"Damn demons!"

Naruto pierced a tail through his heart while Kyuubi his throat. The man dropped the Katana and fell to the ground, spraying blood from his wounds as he went. Both of them sighed and continued mating. The others stared in horror at their fallen comrade that was dispatched as if he was not even worth acknowledging. Both of them moaned, getting close to the edge.

"Kyuu-Chan…"

"I know… So am I…"

Naruto kissed Kyuubi, curling the corner of his lips. If they were going to attack at all, they would do so while they were in the height of pleasure with everything they had. Both of them reached their orgasms simultaneously and cried out. Every single human around them charged in, thinking they would be far too weak from their orgasm to defend themselves. However, they still had enough control, even in the throes of pleasure to send chakra to their tails, making the hair stand out at a ninety degree angle from the skin and whipped them around, slicing people in half as they piled in for the kill. After over fifty villagers were killed, their orgasms died down and they slumped, while the villagers backed off, stopping their losses. Naruto recovered and laughed weakly.

"Who said you can't combine business with pleasure? I think we just did a fine job of it…"

Kyuubi nodded in agreement. Naruto kissed her blood splattered face and smiled.

"You look so beautiful like that…"

Kyuubi laughed while the villagers glared.

"You don't look to bad yourself, handsome."

Naruto wasn't much better than Kyuubi. Being on top, he tended to suffer most of the more meaty 'attacks' of the villagers. Naruto kissed her bloody lips with his. Once he pulled back, he smiled, going for the next procavation.

"I'm kind of disappointed with myself…"

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that?"

Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

"When I was twelve, we committed a much greater massacre than this… I wanted something special for this occasion…"

Kyuubi smiled while the bystanders gasped. There hadn't been many massacres in recent times.

"Ah yes, the Massacre of the Wave… 256 humans killed… It was fun while it lasted…"

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"I'll never forget the feeling of them begging for mercy as I ripped them to pieces…"

Kyuubi laughed as the bystanders took the bait, charging in to their dooms. Both of them began impaling them, but they were coming too fast, until Naruto decided to step it up a notch. He summoned some chakra to his throat, which he could tell Kyuubi was doing as well. Both of their cheeks puffed out and they turned their heads away from each other, spitting the balls of high density chakra out in a blast of red and black intertwining chakra that obliterated a large portion of Konoha, including the Hokage Monument. Naruto looked around through his blood coated eyes and smiled. Luckily, there were a massive number of useable bodies behind them that were still intact to a degree. Kyuubi's eyes widened as she twitched several muscles in her lions, making Naruto orgasm straight away. He grunted several times, looking at her with interest.

"Think we've had enough fun here?"

Kyuubi nodded and pulled him out of herself slowly. Both of them got up, straightening their robes. Naruto tilted his head upwards and opened his mouth, revealing the hilt of the Kusanagi. However, there was no jet black blade for it. Instead, once Naruto grabbed the handle, a blade of blood red fire burst into existence. Naruto smiled at it and gave a few experimental slashes, making the flames roar and lengthen until the end of the swing's arc, when they returned to normal.

"I like it."

Kyuubi smiled sweetly at her breeding partner having fun with his new 'toy'. Kyuubi looked over to see Gamabunta disappear when Manda bit down on him.

"The summon battle is over. Let's go have some more fun."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Sure."

Both of them walked casually down the street, towards the sight where one of the other battles was taking place.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**With Sasuke & Manda:**

Since it was just Manda and Gamabunta fighting, also taking into account the fact that Gamabunta was required to watch out for bystanders, while Manda had no such restrictions, the summon battle was quickly ended in Manda's favour. From what they could tell, Arashi's soul was regain its strength rapidly now that it was no longer being drained by the seal, giving Han a harder time dealing with his predecessor. Sasuke and Jiraiya were now engaging in a Taijutsu match, when they saw Naruto and Kyuubi come around the corner, covered from head to toe in blood that wasn't theirs. Kyuubi also held a lot more form now, making Jiraiya wonder what had happened to her. Sasuke went to Naruto's side as he resealed his Heaven Seal, squatting down as the after effects began to take hold of his system. Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Nice. Looks kind of like how we just left the northern section without the fires everywhere…"

Sasuke smirked and then gasped at the pain that wracked through his body. Naruto tightened his hold on Sasuke's shoulder, unable to heal him but letting him know he was there for him. Sasuke nodded in appreciation before Naruto returned to look at Jiraiya.

"I'm not willing to take the chance that you know Shiki Fuujin, so I'm just going to kill you."

Jiraiya's eyes widened as Naruto calmly talked about killing him. Right now, all that Konoha had left to defend them was himself and Han, but things were not looking good.

"Naruto, I was told you were dead… If I had known you were still alive, I would have made sure none of this had happened…"

Naruto laughed while Kyuubi snickered.

"What makes you think I wanted this to turn out differently? How many former humans do you know that get the chance to rise through the ranks of hell to third in charge?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Third?"

Kyuubi nodded as she explained the upper rankings of Hell.

"Being the Kyuubi means being third in charge of hell, lord of demons. Directly above that is the king of hell, who those fools in the organisation known as Akatsuki are trying to summon. Above that and being in the top position is Shinigami. Neither of those three have much to do with each other, so they're pretty much left to their own devices."

Kyuubi took this opportunity in the minute lull in Jiraiya's actions to grab Kakashi with her tails and began to drain his remaining life into her, leaving nothing but a pile of clothing. Jiraiya stared in horror as more of Kyuubi became living flesh and not just spirit. Jiraiya put his head in his hands, disbelief and sorrow evident on his face when he brought his face back up.

"Naruto… You could have had so much more…"

Naruto fell to the ground laughing, rolling around and slamming his fist on the ground. Kyuubi laughed as well, and even Sasuke in his state managed a snort. Naruto finally recovered enough to speak.

"You're getting senile in your old age. What more could I possibly have gotten by staying in this village? At best, I could have gotten the position of Hokage and any woman from Konoha I wanted. Compared to what I have now and what I will gain in the near future, it's not even remotely considerable. No human woman could give me the amount of pleasure I get from mating with Kyuu-Chan, no position on this planet could give me the power, the numbers of minions and fame being king of demons could. In short, I have never made a single mistake I regret. No, I made one. That was not realising earlier that this was destined to happen earlier."

"It is also destined you will die!"

Naruto groaned. There was only one man who would say such a corny thing.

"I can't and I won't die. Sure, I'm not as strong as she is yet, but that will come with time. As for you, Neji, would you like to try for round two?"

In reply, Neji and several other Hyuugas charged in, while Naruto and Kyuubi paid absolutely no attention to them. Neji aimed a strike at the Kyuubi's stomach, attempting to destroy her unborn young, but was repelled by a wall of red chakra. The Hyuuga continued to attack, only to be repelled. After the last attack, both Kyuubi and Naruto turned around to see them on the floor, some of them beginning to recover from the demonic Kaiten used against them. Kyuubi immediately grabbed several of the stronger ones closer to her with her tails and pulled them up, absorbing them. The Hyuugas looked on in horror as their clansmen were assimilated by the Kyuubi, letting nothing but their clothing fall to the ground. Both of them saw a large group of Jounin level Ninja and above approaching. They were led by the three main Hyuuga, Hiashi, Hinata and Hanabi. Behind them were many of their old 'friends'. Kyuubi smirked as they practically lined up to die. Naruto felt Jiraiya's chakra source increase behind him, and whipped two of his tails out to pull his hands apart, stoping him doing whatever jutsu he was about to do.

"Your turn will come. Be patient."

Jiraiya struggled in vain against Naruto's tails. He was amazed at how much strength they had in them to be able to stop him from moving at all. Hiashi glared at Naruto.

"I will not forgive you for what you did to my clan, or what you accused us of during the Chuunin Exams years ago."

Naruto looked at Hiashi dead panned, and then at Kyuubi.

"Kyuu-Chan, why do humans think I care about whether or not they will forgive me for what I do?"

Kyuubi shrugged, looking back at him.

"Even being sealed inside you for 17 years, I still don't understand. Humans are stupid, plain and simple."

She got a mock glare from Sasuke who had recovered enough to stand. Kyuubi smiled at him.

"You stopped being a human the second you died. I don't classify you as one of these things over there-"

She indicated the group of Konoha Shinobi with a sweep of her hand.

"-And more one of us; A demon."

Sasuke sighed and looked over the crowd, spotting a face he'd rather not see.

"Oh god, not another damn fan girl… And they wondered why I left Konoha…"

Ino fumed at the insult directed at her.

"Who do you think you are? You're not the Sasuke I knew!"

Kyuubi slapped her head with a paw.

"By god, how much stupider are they going to get? Isn't the idea to become smarter with age, not the opposite?"

Naruto and Sasuke agreed when they felt a massive blast of Han's chakra from nearby, turning to see a rather large cloud of smoke raising from an area several streets away. Jiraiya used this momentary distraction to free himself and begin forming hand seals that led to a jutsu Naruto would never let complete. He shot his tails out and pierced both of Jiraiya's arms before he could complete the last hand seal for the Shiki Fuujin, making his arms drop to his sides, completely useless. Naruto growled at Jiraiya.

"Were you planning on making the same mistake your student did? We can all see just how that turned out."

Jiraiya glared at Naruto. There was nothing he could do now. No jutsus and no Taijutsu. Jiraiya grunted in pain as he fell to his knees, only to be dragged up into the air by one of Kyuubi's tails lifting him off the ground. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Don't worry; part of you will live on in my new body for all eternity."

Jiraiya gasped as his body began disintegrating. He looked at Naruto as his legs finished disappearing.

"Naruto… I'm sorry…"

Naruto scoffed at the last words spoken before Jiraiya's body disappeared. Kyuubi sighed contently as Naruto saw the last parts of her body become real. Naruto smiled.

"Welcome back to the world of the living."

Kyuubi flexed her joints before closing her eyes. Her body disappeared, only to be replaced with her true demonic form. Her nine tails swung around, flattening houses and she lifted her head to the air and howled in victory. She looked back down at the group of ninjas in front of her, many of who had soiled their clothes. Naruto walked up to her lowered head and gently stroked her fur, making Kyuubi lean her head to Naruto and close her eyes in pleasure from the scratch. Sasuke could see the reactions of the people and sighed.

"You really are idiots… This whole time, you really didn't believe that she was the Kyuubi?"

Sasuke walked up to the other side of Kyuubi from Naruto when they heard Han scream and his chakra signature fade rapidly, while the Yondaime's took form and strengthened. He reappeared beside them in the flesh and glaring at the villagers.

"I guess I should be apologising for killing him, but a promise is a promise."

Naruto felt a gust of wind blow by and saw the Hokage's hat fly by. He had an idea, grabbing it and placing it on his head, speaking with mock seriousness.

"I now proclaim myself the Rokudaime Hokage."

The Ninja froze and then those who could let their killer intent flare. Naruto took the hat off and burnt it to ashes, laughing the whole time.

"As if I'd want to be the Rokudaime Hokage. Being Hokage is a piece of crap! Only an idiot becomes one!"

Kyuubi smiled as Yondaime took off his own cloak and threw it into the wind. He looked at the villager's surprised reactions and shook his head.

"I realised long ago that this wasn't the village I loved enough to die for, a village I asked to treat my son as a hero yet they went out of their way to kill him. It was when I made that realisation that I renounced my position as the Yondaime Hokage."

Kyuubi looked over their handy work, seeing that the majority of Konoha was now completely in ruins as well as most of its inhabitants were now dead and being processed in hell. She looked to the remaining villagers and snorted.

"**I would love to kill the rest of you humans; however, I am allowed to take a certain number of lives only as dictated. I have reached that limit. After all, I need enough left alive to come and claim some other time."**

Kyuubi looked at Naruto, who looked at her.

"Shall we go?"

Kyuubi nodded, but turned to Yondaime.

"**They will not accept a human taking such a position in hell, no matter what we say."**

Yondaime nodded slowly before turning to Naruto.

"I guess this is it…"

Naruto shrugged and looked away, not trusting his emotions.

"Yeah. I might come back here before you keel over."

Yondaime nodded and moved closer to Naruto who held up his hand.

"You haven't earnt the right to hug me. I still haven't forgiven you."

Yondaime nodded and backed away.

"I see… Well, good luck…"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, as did Kyuubi. The ground underneath them began cracking before splitting open. People covered their ears as they heard blood chilling screams and wails coming from the hole. Naruto spoke without opening his eyes.

"Please tell me I don't have to listen to that for the next ten thousand years… I love the sound, but not for that long…"

Kyuubi's lips curved upwards, revealing razor-sharp fangs.

"Only when going to and from hell."

Naruto nodded as hands shot out and grabbed them, pulling them into the crack in the ground which sealed back over them. Everyone left on the surface tried to regain their bearings. They looked to find that the only trace of the Yondaime was his cloak and Konoha Hitai-ate. They could do nothing now but try and slowly rebuild after mourning for the loss of those close to them that had been killed.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**In the Demon's Throne Room:**

As usual, the upper demons were arguing about who should take the Kitsune's place as the clan in charge when the heavy iron doors flew open, revealing what looked disturbingly like a human child with nine tails who walked passed them up the crimson carpet, straight up to the throne and turned to face them.

"Are you talking about who is going to take **my** place?"

To emphasise his point, Naruto sat on the throne, making the demons glare at him. A four tailed demon spoke.

"**Who do you think you are, human, to walk in here and take the throne?"**

The answer came from behind them, in the doorway.

"**My** breeding partner and the new king of demons; that is who."

Everyone turned to see the Kyuubi of old walk in passed them and take the throne to Naruto's left. The demons smirked, obviously having an idea. One of them spoke up, a one tailed cat.

"But you failed in your mission, meaning you no longer have the right to remain as head of the Kitsune."

Kyuubi looked at the female cat in mild amusement.

"The time limit for my original mission was 10 human days, correct?"

Every demon nodded as Kyuubi continued.

"Also taking into account the time I am allotted to find a breeding partner, meaning 10 human years."

Again they nodded. The head of a clan was allowed to take up to 10 human years off to find a suitable breeding partner without notice.

"That still only covers 10 years and 10 days."

Kyuubi nodded. Naruto wanted to but in, but knew that this was not his argument.

"Coupled with the fact that we are required every nine human years to commit a small culling, and was it not the Kitsune's turn today to commit the culling?"

The demons were stumped. Kyuubi had all bases covered. They could do nothing but acknowledge the fact that Kyuubi had not broken any demonic laws herself, and so was able to maintain her role as queen of demons, except for one small fact.

"You still require an Advisor."

An Advisor was not just that. He was also the third voice in opinions made. Apart from their positions, the position of Advisor was next in rank. Only the king and queen of demons were permitted to have one. Naruto looked passed them and smiled toothily.

"We have one. Sasuke."

They turned around and saw one who was most definitely a human. The room went into uproar. Until Naruto laughed, causing everyone to look at him expectantly.

"I guess you could call Sasuke a Human, that is, until you see his real self."

Naruto nodded to Sasuke who activated his full level two cursed seal, making the demons regard him warily. Sasuke returned to normal and walked straight up, in between Naruto and Kyuubi where a smaller throne was. Naruto smiled as the demons said nothing.

"Good, it's settled then. I now proclaim myself King of Demons, third in command of hell. Are there any objections?"

There were no spoken objections, so Naruto smiled and sat back.

"Mission accomplished."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** I did it! I did it! I completed my first story line! As promised, I am going to start my new fic straight away… Thanks again for reading everyone! And if you're looking for my new fic, check my profile.

Specula, signing out.


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